TOKYO: Tokyo stocks have risen 0.36 per cent after the yen weakened against the US dollar in response to a strong US jobs report.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 63.43 points on Monday to close at 17,711.93, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.55 per cent, or 7.73 points, at 1,424.92.
“The short-term momentum in US employment was stronger than we expected,” said Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities.
“With the spike in US two-year note yields spurring yen weakness, that backdrop should serve as a catalyst for gains in Japanese stocks,” he told Bloomberg News.
On Friday the US Labor Department said 257,000 jobs were created in January and revised upward already healthy growth in the prior two months.. It also said hourly wage growth gained 0.5 per cent, a big improvement after a December drop.
The report fuelled speculation that the Fed will raise interest rates in the middle of the year pushing the US dollar higher.
The greenback was at Y118.82 in afternoon trade on Monday, slightly down from Y119.00 in New York but still sharply up from Y117.33 in Tokyo earlier on Friday.
A weak yen is positive for Japanese exporters as it increases their profits when repatriated.
Toyota rose 1.01 per cent to Y7700.0 while Canon added 0.44 per cent to Y3,732.5.
Nissan rose 1.38 per cent to Y1064.0.
Sony fell 2.37 per cent to Y3,064.0 after almost touching a five-year high last week on an improved earnings outlook.
