Tokyo stocks end higher on optimism over US-China trade talks
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended up 140.93 points, or 0.38 percent, from Friday at 37,644.26. The broader Topix index finished 8.59 points, or 0.31 percent, higher at 2,742.08.
On the top-tier Prime Market, gainers were led by warehousing and harbor transportation service, mining and securities house issues.
The U.S. dollar remained firm against the yen in Tokyo, rising to above 147 yen later in the afternoon, as the Japanese currency, seen as a safe-haven asset, was sold on receding fears of an intensified trade conflict between the world's two largest economies, dealers said.
Tokyo stocks opened higher after China's official media reported that Beijing agreed with Washington during weekend trade talks in Geneva to establish an economic and trade mechanism. But they fell at one point into negative territory as some investors locked in gains following sharp advances on Friday, brokers said.
"While details of the meeting remain unknown, the development can be taken relatively positively as there seems to be a conciliatory mood," said Makoto Sengoku, senior equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory Co.
Export-linked auto and machinery shares were supported by a weak yen, which increases exporters' overseas profits when repatriated.
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The Mainichi
3 hours ago
- The Mainichi
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However, President Trump is well known to be highly transactional, especially in foreign policy. He has also indicated a strong sympathy for the very 19th century idea that great powers are entitled to have "spheres of influence" in the areas around their own borders. He has, for example, expressed a determination that America should gain control over Greenland, the icy territory that is part of Denmark but adjacent to the north-east coast of the United States, has declared that Canada should become the U.S.'s "51st State," and has insisted the U.S. should regain control over the Panama Canal. This makes it conceivable, even if still improbable, that at some point Trump could be tempted to accept Chinese control over its "sphere" of Taiwan and the South China Sea in return for China accepting US control over territories in its region. 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The more forward-leaning stance Japan has taken on defence, first under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and then with the new National Security Strategy under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in 2022, has had the dual purpose of increasing Japan's contribution to joint deterrence operations with America and creating more long-term options for national security in case relations with Washington become more fractured. Continuing and even enhancing this strategy remains Japan's only viable plan. What Japan could perhaps invest even more time in is in its already impressive diplomatic efforts in north-east and south-east Asia. To cope with the Trump "typhoon" and to increase Japan's own leverage over Washington at any time of crisis, it makes sense to work more closely with other countries that face the same pressures, starting with South Korea but also extending south to Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan itself. 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Kyodo News
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