Tokyo, April 18 (Alliance News ):Tokyo shares opened higher Tuesday, helped by a cheap yen after US stocks finished with modest gains as investors in the world’s largest economy awaited more company earnings.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.17 percent, or 47.05 points, at 28,561.83 in early trade, while the broader Topix index added 0.33 percent, or 6.78 points, to 2,033.75.
The dollar fetched 134.44 yen in early Asian trade, against 134.46 yen in New York, where the prospect of further US central bank rate hikes helped the greenback firm from levels of 133.94 yen in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japanese shares were expected to start with gains “following rallies in US shares and due to the cheap yen,” senior market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama of Monex said.
Investors are also awaiting a set of Chinese economic data due later in the day, including January-March GDP figures and factory output, Kanayama added.
After a seven-day winning streak in Tokyo, profit-taking could weigh on the market, analysts said. Hitachi was up 0.83 percent at 7,562 yen, construction machine maker Komatsu was 0.18 percent higher at 3,256 yen, and trading house Itochu added 0.74 percent to 4,497 yen.
Banks were higher, with Mizuho Financial Group trading up 0.93 percent at 1,999 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group up 0.93 percent at 5,626 yen. Panasonic was 0.35 percent lower at 1,284.5 yen.
Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest was off 1.13 percent at 11,380 yen.