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Tokyo / AfP
Tokyo shares rose in early trading on Thursday as a weaker yen provided support to exporters following a positive lead from Wall Street as oil prices rebounded from steep falls.
US stocks pushed higher on Wednesday as crude prices stabilised, with both US and Brent closing modestly higher following Tuesday’s slump of more than four percent.
Higher crude lifted sentiment, which led to selling of the safe-haven yen and boosted the share price of Japanese exporters as investors sought bargains after recent declines.
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.69 percent, or 109.80 points, to 16,025.59 about 30 minutes after the opening bell, rebounding from the previous day’s loss.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares gained 0.99 percent, or 12.68 points, to 1,297.21.
“You need to see some settling in the oil price and maybe we’re getting there on that one,” Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy in Sydney at AMP Capital Investors, told Bloomberg News.
“That could be ticked off as a positive but we still need to see more evidence that central banks are
doing what they can to stabilise the
situation.
“The volatility reflects the range of views out there and the uncertainty that surrounds the economic outlook.”
Investor sentiment was also lifted by speculation that China will ramp up stimulus to boost its slowing economy — the world’s second largest and a key driver of global growth.
Ahead of a meeting of finance and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 starting Friday in Shanghai, there have been calls for increased fiscal support as authorities grapple with reduced monetary leeway.
Central banks in Japan and the eurozone have already set negative interest rates.
In forex markets, the dollar ticked down to 112.11 yen from 112.15 yen Wednesday in New York, but was up from 111.88 yen Wednesday late afternoon in Tokyo.
On Wall Street on Wednesday, the Dow closed 0.32 percent higher, while the S&P 500 rose 0.44 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 0.87 percent.