Tokyo Stocks Open Higher

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published July 19, 2023 | 08:20 AM

Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jul, 2023 ) :Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday, supported by Wall Street gains on solid banking earnings.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.99 percent, or 322.87 points, at 32,816.76 in early trade, while the broader Topix index added 0.99 percent, or 22.41 points, to 2,274.69.

Overnight, better-than-expected earnings reports from the banking sector helped boost US stocks, with the Dow advancing for the seventh straight session.

The Dollar fetched 138.94 Yen in early Asian trade, against 138.87 yen in New York late Tuesday.

"The Japanese market is led by buy-orders following rallies in the US market," but the upward trend may be short-lived as the Nikkei index's movement in the past weeks "hints that (upward) momentum is declining short-term," said market analyst Shutaro Yasuda of Tokai Tokyo Research Institute in a commentary.

Among individual equities, Toyota was up 1.47 percent at 2,273 yen, SoftBank Group was up 1.70 percent at 7,014 yen, and market heavyweight and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing was up 0.70 percent at 34,500 yen.

Seven & i Holdings was up 0.59 percent at 5,940 yen even after the convenience store chain operator reported a 35 percent decline in net profit for the March-May quarter.

That is because "the decline in profit was due mainly to falls in its US business because of a factor little to do with the company's business -- soaring petroleum prices," Yasuda of Tokai Tokyo said.

Mega banks were higher with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group trading up 0.67 percent at 6,449 yen and Mizuho Financial Group up 0.20 percent at 2,279 yen.