Tokyo stocks ended lower, hit by a stronger yen and concerns about the outlook for the global economy under a Donald Trump presidency. / AFP
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday with the yen taking a breather as investors waited for key US jobs data later in the day.
The closely watched monthly US employment report — the first under the Donald Trump presidency — was expected to show the world’s largest economy added 170,000 jobs in January, with unemployment rate holding steady at 4.7 percent.
Analysts said investors remain anxious over uncertainty surrounding Trump’s policies and statements following a series of controversies, the most recent being reports of a contentious phone call with Malcolm Turnbull, prime minister of Australia, a close US ally.
“With the news out of Washington and the new administration ramping up even further, past Trump reflation enthusiasm has waned further,” David de Garis, a senior analyst at National Australia Bank said in a commentary.
US stocks had jumped past the 20,000 mark for the first time and the dollar gained on investor optimism over Trump’s vow to pursue a pro-growth economic policy, though a lack of concrete policy detail has checked enthusiasm.
Wall Street stocks finished little changed Thursday in cautious trading ahead of the US jobs data, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average at 19,884.98, down less than 0.1 percent.
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.56 percent, or 105.15 points, to 19,019.73 in the first few minutes of trading Friday, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.45 percent, or 6.83 points, to 1,517.24.
The dollar, meanwhile, was quoted at 112.94 yen in Tokyo, up slightly from 112.79 yen in New York late Thursday.
Sony surged 6.14 percent to 3,576 yen, despite its announcement late Thursday that it had halved its full-year profit forecast.
Panasonic fell as much as 2.7 percent to 1,137 yen after the company said late Thursday a US unit operating in-flight entertainment and communication systems business is under investigation by US authorities for alleged violations of bribery and securities laws.
Toshiba was up 0.16 percent to 241.2 yen after days of declines on concerns over its US nuclear business.
Automaker Toyota rose 0.69 percent to 6,476 yen while Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal gained 0.93 percent after it upgraded its full-year profit forecast.
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