Tokyo stocks edge higher after wild trading
AFP, Tokyo :
Tokyo stocks edged higher Friday after two days of wild trading that followed Donald Trump’s surprise win in the US presidential election.
After his victory over market-favourite rival Hillary Clinton, investors are now banking on business-friendly policies and measures to boost the US economy, a key driver of world growth, while a rise in the dollar against the yen lifted Japanese exporters.
“We’ve got through the biggest cause of uncertainty, the US presidential race, and Congress is controlled by business-friendly Republicans,” Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings, told Bloomberg News.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index-which rallied almost seven percent on Thursday after initially sinking on Trump’s victory-added 0.18 percent, or 30.37 points, to end at 17,374.79. Over the week, it rose 2.78 percent.
The broader Topix index of all first section issues was up 0.14 percent, or 1.93 points, to 1,378.28. The index gained 2.32 percent this week.
“Prospects of greater US fiscal spending (infrastructure and tax cuts) under a Trump presidency continue to buoy equity markets,” National Australia Bank economist Tapas Strickland said in a commentary.
Some analysts counselled caution. “While the market overplayed its concerns when it sank, the rise we saw afterwards cherry-picked positive factors in excess,” said Tomoichiro Kubota, a senior analyst at Matsui Securities.
“Until we see that his policies are actually this, this and this, and the contents are actually solid, it’s very dangerous to have a large position in either direction.”
Japan’s July-September economic growth figures are due Monday, while several key US indicators, including retail sales and October inflation, will be also released next week.
In share trading, financials surged again with banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group piling up 9.04 percent at 607.9 yen on bets that Trump will loosen financial sector regulations.
Toyota climbed 1.95 percent to 5,952 yen, while heavy machinery maker Komatsu soared 5.01 percent to 2,534 yen.
Nintendo fell 1.26 percent to 24,100 yen after unveiling plans to end domestic production of the Wii U video game console in the near future.
In Tokyo, the dollar greenback rose to 106.53 yen, up from 105.36 yen in Tokyo Thursday.
Tokyo stocks edged higher Friday after two days of wild trading that followed Donald Trump’s surprise win in the US presidential election.
After his victory over market-favourite rival Hillary Clinton, investors are now banking on business-friendly policies and measures to boost the US economy, a key driver of world growth, while a rise in the dollar against the yen lifted Japanese exporters.
“We’ve got through the biggest cause of uncertainty, the US presidential race, and Congress is controlled by business-friendly Republicans,” Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings, told Bloomberg News.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index-which rallied almost seven percent on Thursday after initially sinking on Trump’s victory-added 0.18 percent, or 30.37 points, to end at 17,374.79. Over the week, it rose 2.78 percent.
The broader Topix index of all first section issues was up 0.14 percent, or 1.93 points, to 1,378.28. The index gained 2.32 percent this week.
“Prospects of greater US fiscal spending (infrastructure and tax cuts) under a Trump presidency continue to buoy equity markets,” National Australia Bank economist Tapas Strickland said in a commentary.
Some analysts counselled caution. “While the market overplayed its concerns when it sank, the rise we saw afterwards cherry-picked positive factors in excess,” said Tomoichiro Kubota, a senior analyst at Matsui Securities.
“Until we see that his policies are actually this, this and this, and the contents are actually solid, it’s very dangerous to have a large position in either direction.”
Japan’s July-September economic growth figures are due Monday, while several key US indicators, including retail sales and October inflation, will be also released next week.
In share trading, financials surged again with banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group piling up 9.04 percent at 607.9 yen on bets that Trump will loosen financial sector regulations.
Toyota climbed 1.95 percent to 5,952 yen, while heavy machinery maker Komatsu soared 5.01 percent to 2,534 yen.
Nintendo fell 1.26 percent to 24,100 yen after unveiling plans to end domestic production of the Wii U video game console in the near future.
In Tokyo, the dollar greenback rose to 106.53 yen, up from 105.36 yen in Tokyo Thursday.
