Tokyo Stocks Close Higher On Bargain-hunting

Tokyo stocks close higher on bargain-hunting

Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Jul, 2021 ) :Tokyo stocks closed higher Wednesday ahead of a long weekend as investors bought on dips following recent declines and took heart from Wall Street rallies.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.58 percent, or 159.84 points, to 27,548.00, snapping a five-day losing streak.

The broader Topix index rose 0.82 percent, or 15.52 points, to 1,904.41.

The gains came after Wall Street reclaimed ground lost the previous day when fears over the Delta variant of Covid-19 dragged the market down to its worst session of the year.

"It's quite natural to see a rebound following the recent losing streak here and rallies on Wall Street," Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities, told AFP.

Investors shied away from making major bets ahead of a four-day weekend from Thursday, with the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony on Friday evening.

"Investors were concerned about the Olympics, but once the Games begin, Olympic news is expected to have a psychologically positive impact on the market," Horiuchi said.

The Dollar changed hands at 109.83 Yen in Asian afternoon trade, compared with 109.87 yen in New York late Tuesday.

Olympic sponsor firms were higher after the sports programme of the virus-delayed Games began with a softball game between Japan and Australia on Wednesday morning.

Panasonic rallied 2.61 percent to 1,313 yen with Toyota up 1.17 percent at 9,725 yen.

Advertising giant Dentsu, which is heavily involved in organising the Tokyo Games, gained 1.33 percent to 3,805 yen.

Suzuki jumped 3.84 percent to 4,539 yen after saying it would hold a news conference with its rival Daihatsu and Toyota.

Following the closing bell, Suzuki said the two firms would join Toyota's project to develop electric commercial vehicles and autonomous technologies.