Tokyo stocks higher despite N. Korea’s projectile launches, Wall St slide

TOKYO – Tokyo stocks opened higher today despite the uncertainty fuelled by falls on Wall Street and North Korea’s launch of two projectiles.

The Nikkei 225 index edged up 0.18%, or 51.81 points, to 28,457.33 at the open, while the broader Topix index rose 0.65%, or 12.45 points, to 1,941.03.

“There are uncertainties” after the main United States indexes closed lower and the North Korean launches were observed, said Rikiya Takebe, senior strategist at Okasan Online Securities.

“The Olympic torch relay will start. There are hopes that a festive mood will influence the market.”

Weakness in technology shares weighed down Wall Street yesterday, with the tech-rich Nasdaq ending down 2.0%.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished marginally negative.

The Tokyo Olympics torch relay kicked off today, a year late and without spectators at the launch, heralding a major step towards the start of the coronavirus-delayed Games on July 23.

In Tokyo trading, key chip manufacturer Renesas gained 0.86% to ¥1,166 (RM44.31) a day after the government said it is lining up to offer support following a factory fire that could worsen a global semiconductor shortage.

Toyota, which announced a capital tie-up with Isuzu for autonomous trucks yesterday, rose 0.82% to ¥8,187.

Nissan grew 1.10% to ¥587.5, while Honda jumped 1.44% to ¥3,293.

Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing climbed 0.45% to ¥84,120, while SoftBank Group lost 0.73% to ¥9,271.

The US dollar traded at ¥108.80 in early Asian trade against ¥108.71 in New York late yesterday. – AFP, March 25, 2021