Tokyo stocks open higher on easing trade war fears

Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday, following a rally on Wall Street as concerns over a possible global trade war eased.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.91 percent, or 189.29 points to 20,955.39 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.91 percent or 15.15 points at 1,686.47.

The dollar traded at 105.53 yen in early Asian trade, up slightly from 105.21 yen in New York late Monday.

“Investors are testing the upper limit of share prices after rallies in US stocks and a cap on a strong yen,” Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.

“But the upward movement could be weighed down by testimony” from Nobuhisa Sagawa, a key Japanese official at the heart of a favouritism scandal that has dented Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s popularity, he noted.

His testimony under oath starts at 0030 GMT — thirty minutes after the market opening.

Exporters were higher, with Toyota gaining 0.99 percent to 6,708 yen and Nissan trading up 1.49 percent at 1,121.5 yen.

Panasonic jumped 2.86 percent ot 1,615.5 yen after a brokerage firm upgraded its view on the shares.

Chip maker Renesas climbed 3.28 percent to 1,101 yen after a report that it plans to outsource auto chip manufacturing to Taiwan’s TSMC.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial was up 2.00 percent at 701.7 yen, also after a brokerage upgrade.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 2.8 percent to close at 24,202.60.