TOKYO: Tokyo stocks rose 0.31 percent Friday morning after Wall Street rallied and the yen eased on hopes for a solid US jobs report, while Nintendo shares surged on better-than-expected earnings.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 58.95 points to 19,350.94 by the break while the Topix index of all first-section issues added 0.47 percent, or 7.45 points, to 1,582.09.
Markets were now geared up for the Labor Department’s jobs report Friday to gauge whether the economy is strong enough for the Federal Reserve to begin raising ultra-low interest rates.
“If payrolls rebound to show growth of 240,000 to 250,000, we’ll see US long-term yields spike and the yen weaken, which will be positive for Japanese shares,” said Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings.
“But if the data is worse than expected, we could see global stocks suffer a deeper correction as the market shifts toward a deflationary story.”
