Tokyo’s Nikkei closes up on weak yen

Tokyo stocks rose for the third straight session on Monday, supported by a weaker yen after China and the United States pulled back from a trade war.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.31 percent, or 72.01 points, to 23,002.37, closing above 23,000 for the first time since early February.

But the broader Topix index was down 0.08 percent, or 1.50 points, at 1,813.75.

“Risk-on sentiment has spread as positive factors, including a weak yen, surrounded the market,” said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities.

The dollar was at 111.30 yen in Asian trade, up from 110.68 yen in New York late Friday.

The dollar advanced after the finance ministry said Japan’s overall trade surplus jumped 30 percent in April while its politically sensitive trade surplus with the US edged up 4.7 percent.

Investors cheered news that the US and China had backed off from imposing tariffs on each other, which many feared could have sparked a potentially damaging trade war between the two economic giants.

The apparent detente followed months of tensions that have put markets on edge.

“The agreement between the US and China had already been factored in but it was still good news,” Horiuchi told AFP.

In Tokyo, leading electronic components supplier Kyocera rose 0.40 percent to 6,757 yen and TDK jumped 2.20 percent 10,640 yen.

Market heavyweight Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo casual clothing, was up 0.96 percent at 49,300 yen.

But Toyota fell 0.11 percent to 7,562 yen and Sony was down 0.51 percent at 5,388 yen.

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