TOKYO: Tokyo stocks have closed 1.25 per cent higher, boosted by a solid US jobs report and China’s decision to cut interest rates again.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 241.72 points on Monday to close at 19,620.91, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares added 0.67 per cent, or 10.57 points, to 1,598.33.
China’s central bank on Sunday cut rates by 25 basis points – after two similar moves since November – as it looks to support the world’s number two economy, which grew last year at its slowest pace in nearly a quarter of a century.
The move is the latest stimulus by the People’s Bank of China, which has also twice this year reduced the amount of cash lenders must keep in reserve.
It also came after another disappointing set of economic indicators, with inflation coming in below forecasts for April and exports unexpectedly falling.
“The consensus was that there’ll be at least one or two more stages of monetary easing in China, so there’s no big surprise,” Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.
“The timing was earlier than expected, so they’ve probably moved assuming a positive reaction to that.”
