Tokyo stocks opened higher on May 22, tracking gains on Wall Street last week as higher oil prices lifted energy shares. / AFP PHOTO /
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street last week as higher oil prices lifted energy shares.
US stocks rose on Friday, recovering losses sustained earlier in the week on worries about President Donald Trump’s growth agenda in the wake of burgeoning investigations of the White House.
The White House has been thrown into turmoil by a succession of stunning allegations against the president.
James Comey, the former FBI chief fired by Trump, has agreed to publicly testify about Russian interference in the US election at some point after the Memorial Day holiday on May 29.
Speculation will continue to be rife at least until the testimony but investors were now buying on good corporate earnings in both Japan and the United States, Okasan Online Securities said.
“Good business results are making up for the political standstill,” it said in a commentary.
Separately, official data showed Japan posted a trade surplus for the third consecutive month in April thanks to robust exports.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.40 percent, or 79.01 points, to 19,669.77 in early trading, while the Topix index of all first-section issues advanced 0.36 percent, or 5.55 points, to 1,565.28.
Japanese oil explorers followed their US peers higher, with Japan Petroleum up 1.66 percent to 2,315 yen and Inpex rising 1.71 percent to 1,070 yen.
The Tokyo market also got support from a weaker yen, which increases exporters’ profitability.
The dollar rose to 111.44 yen from 111.27 yen in New York on Friday afternoon and 111.23 yen in Asia earlier in the day, as market reactions to the latest North Korean missile launch were muted.
Honda gained 1.31 percent to 3,090 yen while factory automation robot maker Fanuc rose 0.75 percent 22,040 yen.
SoftBank climbed 2.02 at 8,549 yen after the mobile carrier said, with Saudi partners, that it has raised nearly $100 billion in pledges to launch a major global fund for long-term, high-tech investments.
Takata jumped 15.78 percent to 550 yen after a surge of more than 20 percent on Friday as four automakers agreed to pay $553 million to settle a US lawsuit over its defective airbags.
© Agence France-Presse