AFP, Tokyo :
Tokyo stocks closed higher on Friday, as investors took heart from rallies on Wall Street and a relatively cheap yen against the dollar with their eyes on US-China trade talks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended up 0.82 percent or 172.05 points to 21,205.81. Over the week, the index lost 1.94 percent.
The broader Topix index was up 0.56 percent or 8.79 points to end at 1,591.64, but over the weekend it lost 1.57 percent.
“The rallies in US shares and a relatively cheaper yen is helping the Tokyo market,” Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.
Attention is on Beijing where top Chinese and US negotiators are taking part in their latest batch of talks aimed at ending their long-running trade row that has dragged on the world economy.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the negotiations were not “time dependent” and could be extended, adding they could take weeks or months to get a final deal.
Ito said the US-China negotiations “won’t be helpful to push up share prices further unless the talks generate something tangible.”
The dollar fetched 110.73 yen in Asian trade, up from 110.62 yen in New York and 110.13 yen in Tokyo on Thursday.
Wall Street stocks rose on Thursday following a recovery in 10-year US Treasury yields, after weakness in bond rates in recent sessions raised worries about slowing economic growth.
Japan’s closely watched factory output rose modestly in February with unemployment staying at record low levels, official data showed Friday before the opening bell, underscoring the patchy recovery of the world’s third largest economy.
In Tokyo, some blue-chip exporters were higher, with Hitachi closing up 1.24 percent at 3,585 yen, electronic parts maker Kyocera ending up 0.96 percent at 6,500 yen and camera maker Nikon up 1.36 percent at 1,561 yen.
Pharmaceuticals firm Daiichi Sankyo surged 16 percent to the day’s limit of 5,100 yen, after it announced a tie-up with AstraZeneca for development of a cancer drug. The deal could be worth as much as $6.9 billion, a statement from Daiichi Sankyo said.
Tokyo stocks closed higher on Friday, as investors took heart from rallies on Wall Street and a relatively cheap yen against the dollar with their eyes on US-China trade talks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended up 0.82 percent or 172.05 points to 21,205.81. Over the week, the index lost 1.94 percent.
The broader Topix index was up 0.56 percent or 8.79 points to end at 1,591.64, but over the weekend it lost 1.57 percent.
“The rallies in US shares and a relatively cheaper yen is helping the Tokyo market,” Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.
Attention is on Beijing where top Chinese and US negotiators are taking part in their latest batch of talks aimed at ending their long-running trade row that has dragged on the world economy.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the negotiations were not “time dependent” and could be extended, adding they could take weeks or months to get a final deal.
Ito said the US-China negotiations “won’t be helpful to push up share prices further unless the talks generate something tangible.”
The dollar fetched 110.73 yen in Asian trade, up from 110.62 yen in New York and 110.13 yen in Tokyo on Thursday.
Wall Street stocks rose on Thursday following a recovery in 10-year US Treasury yields, after weakness in bond rates in recent sessions raised worries about slowing economic growth.
Japan’s closely watched factory output rose modestly in February with unemployment staying at record low levels, official data showed Friday before the opening bell, underscoring the patchy recovery of the world’s third largest economy.
In Tokyo, some blue-chip exporters were higher, with Hitachi closing up 1.24 percent at 3,585 yen, electronic parts maker Kyocera ending up 0.96 percent at 6,500 yen and camera maker Nikon up 1.36 percent at 1,561 yen.
Pharmaceuticals firm Daiichi Sankyo surged 16 percent to the day’s limit of 5,100 yen, after it announced a tie-up with AstraZeneca for development of a cancer drug. The deal could be worth as much as $6.9 billion, a statement from Daiichi Sankyo said.
