Roundup: Tokyo stocks close higher as yen's retreat gives exporters a boost
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E-mail Xinhua, June 1, 2022
TOKYO, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed higher Wednesday, with the benchmark Nikkei stock index hitting a six-week high as automakers gained on an upbeat analysts' report and exporters advanced on the yen's weakness.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 178.09 points, or 0.65 percent, from Tuesday to close the day at 27,457.89, marking its highest closing level since April 21.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, gained 25.97 points, or 1.36 percent to finish at 1,938.64.
Despite Wall Street closing lower overnight, sentiment was lifted by U.S. stock futures pointing to a rebound, brokers here said, with exporters getting a boost as the yen dropped versus the dollar to the lower 129 range in Tokyo from the upper 127 zone late Tuesday.
Automakers also shifted into high gear following J.P. Morgan analysts saying in a report that Japanese auto companies are likely to post record profits this year.
The report mentioned that amid soaring inflation, the automakers are likely to raise the prices for their vehicles to offset the costs.
By the close of play, transportation equipment, farm and fishery, and marine transportation issues comprised those that gained the most, with rising issues outpacing falling ones by 1,546 to 258 on the Prime Market, while 33 ended the day unchanged.
Market players opted to not chase the market's upside higher, brokers said, as "investors took a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the release of a sling of key economic indicators this week," Masahiro Yamaguchi, head of investment research at SMBC Trust Bank, was quoted as saying.
Among exporters rising on the yen's slide and automakers lifted by J.P. Morgan's report, Nissan Motor jumped 7.8 percent, Toyota Motor gained 3.5 percent, while Honda Motor ended the day 4.3 percent higher.
Bucking the upward trend, oil exploration giant Index lost 4.6 percent and Daiichi Sankyo dropped 4.9 percent to become the Nikkei's worst performer.
Hokkaido Electric Power was another notable loser, slipping 0.8 percent, after the Sapporo District Court a day earlier ruled that the utility's reactors should not be brought back on line due to safety issues.
On the Prime Market on Wednesday, 1,228.85 million shares changed hands, dropping from Tuesday's volume of 2,288.80 million shares. Enditem
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