Agency Report

Tokyo stocks closed higher on Tuesday as investors took heart from strong rebounds on Wall Street over hopes that the newest coronavirus variant will prove less virulent than earlier strains.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.89 per cent or 528.23 points to end at 28,455.60, while the broader Topix index gained 2.17 per cent or 42.31 points to 1,989.85.

“Share buying surged as excessive fears about the Omicron variant have eased,” Okasan Online Securities said in a note.

The dollar fetched 113.72 yen in Asian trade, against 113.46 yen in New York late Monday.

Toyota climbed 1.88 per cent to 2,105 yen after it said it will build a new $1.29 billion automotive battery-manufacturing plant in North Carolina in the US, planning to start output in 2025.

Its rival Honda rose 2.19 per cent to 3,258 yen while Nissan jumped 3.48 per cent to 570.1.

E-commerce giant Rakuten grew 2.16 per cent to 1,131 yen after Japan’s Fair Trade Commission said it had ended a probe over a blanket free shipping policy, with the firm saying it had amended the rule.

SoftBank Group soared 7.93 per cent to 5,508 yen while Sony Group gained 2.22 per cent to 13,985.

AFP