/ AFP /
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday, boosted by exporters and banks as the yen fell against the dollar on hopes for US President Donald Trump’s much-anticipated tax cut.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.59 percent, or 129.16, to 21,868.94 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.44 percent, or 7.69 points, at 1,761.59.
“Japanese stocks will test higher prices as investors cheer a rebound in the New York Dow, the yen’s fall … and the ECB decision to cut back on its monetary stimulus plan,” said Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities.
On Wall Street, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 percent to finish at 23,400.86 on Thursday following broadly solid earnings and congressional progress on the tax cut plan.
House Republicans narrowly passed a budget Thursday and sent the controversial measure to the president’s desk, opening the way for debate over his tax overhaul that includes $1.5 trillion in tax cuts.
The dollar rose on the yen, buying 114.19 yen early Friday, up from 114.00 yen in New York.
A weaker yen is a positive for Japanese exporters as it makes their products more competitive abroad and inflates their repatriated profits.
On Thursday, the European Central Bank began weaning the eurozone economy off the high dose of monetary support, saying it would halve its purchases of government and corporate bonds to 30 billion euros ($35 billion) a month.
The ECB decision provided a ” sense of relief and encouraged stock buying as it was not so hawkish as some market players had speculated it would be,” Okasan’s Ito said in a commentary.
Fujitsu shares tumbled 8.42 percent to 831.7 yen after its six-month operating profit missed expectations.
Subaru fell 2.57 percent to 3,970 yen on local media reports that uncertified junior workers have inspected vehicles at a domestic factory before they were shipped to dealers, following a similar revelation at Nissan.
Subaru declined to comment on the reports, saying an in-house probe was underway.
Toyota rose 0.38 percent to 7,059 yen while Nissan edged up 0.09 percent at 1,100.5 yen.
Sony rose 0.23 percent to 4,280 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported its April-September operating profit likely tripled on the year owing to strong sales of smartphone components.
Banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ climbed 1.71 percent to 782.9 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui rose 1.28 percent to sit at 4,578 yen.
© Agence France-Presse