Tokyo stocks ended higher Tuesday along with other Asian markets following overnight gains on Wall Street, but investors refrained from making major moves ahead of US-Japan trade talks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.69 percent, or 155.42 points, to 22,662.74 while the broader Topix index added 0.76 percent, or 13.15 points, to 1,746.05.
The market moved in a tight range in early trade as investors sat on their hands ahead of planned Japan-US trade talks, slated for Thursday in Washington.
Analysts speculated that Washington might urge Japan to open the market further for US exports and consider a bilateral free-trade agreement. Tokyo was expected to press Washington to return to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and stop considering possible tariffs on vehicle imports.
"The market followed gains of US shares overnight and opened the trading day with the Nikkei index marking small gains," Okasan Online Securities said in a note to clients.
The market gained momentum as Shanghai shares marked healthy rises, it said.
The dollar stood at 111.30 yen in Tokyo against 111.39 yen in New York Monday.
Oil-related issues enjoyed solid gains as the US sanctions on Iran drove up oil prices. Energy developer Inpex Corp added 1.87 percent to 1,250.5 yen. Energy-plant producer JGC Corp ended 2.57 percent to 2,152 yen.
SoftBank jumped 6.54 percent to 10,050 yen after the telecom giant and tech investor reported strong earnings Monday and a Bloomberg report said it was planning an IPO worth $30 billion for its Japanese wireless business.
Sony also added 1.47 percent to 6,163 yen.
Comments
Comments are closed.