Thursday, 17 September 2015 13:08
TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed 1.43 percent higher on Thursday, swept up in a global rally hours ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s hotly anticipated interest decision.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 260.67 points to 18,432.27.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares closed up 1.31 percent, or 19.31 points, at 1,491.91.
Nikkei’s rally gained steam in the afternoon ahead of a meeting where the US central bank is considering whether or not to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006.
The Fed is scheduled to announce its decision at 1800 GMT.
The dollar rose to 120.88 yen from 120.61 Wednesday in New York, as investors showed cautious optimism that the US central bank will delay the rate hike on concerns that it could hurt global growth, at a time when China’s economy suffers a slowdown.
“Asian markets are doing well today in cautious positioning ahead of the Fed rates decision, with currency moves in particular reflecting the general feeling that rates will be left unchanged,” Angus Nicholson, market analyst at IG in Melbourne, said in an email.
Speculation about the Fed overshadowed Japanese trade export data for August showing Japan’s exports slowed for a second straight month and shipments to major trade partner China fell 4.6 percent from a year earlier.
“The weakness (in Japan’s exports) is not only coming from China, but also from the US and Europe,” Junko Nishioka, chief economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank, told AFP.
“I think the third-quarter net trade data should add a negative contribution to growth, and bring headwinds for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Bank of Japan,” Nishioka said.
The figures came a day after Standard & Poor’s downgraded its sovereign credit rating on Japan, saying the government had little chance of turning round the economy or weak inflation in the coming years.
In Japanese share trading, Sony surged for a second day, rising 4.15 percent to 3,224.5 yen, after announcing price cuts on the Playstation 4 from October 1 in Japan on Wednesday.
Daikin Industries, a maker of air conditioners, gained 4.18 percent to 7,634 yen.
Automaker Suzuki rose 0.10 percent to 3,846,5 yen after buying back shares before the market opened, and market heavyweight Fast Retailing, operator of the Uniqlo clothing chain, gained 2.22 percent to 47,405 yen.
The euro was at $ 1.1289 and 136.47 yen, up from $ 1.1285 and 136.11 yen in New York.
