TOKYO: Tokyo stocks gained 0.43 percent Monday morning after Wall Street chalked up another record close last week.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 84.20 points to 19,817.12 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares added 0.68 percent, or 10.91 points, to 1,618.02.
Another batch of disappointing US data Friday added to speculation that the Federal Reserve would need to delay its plan to raise near-zero interest rates this year.
The S&P 500 edged up to a new record, adding 0.08 percent to 2,122.73, while the Dow rose 0.11 percent but the Nasdaq dipped 0.05 percent.
Fed data on Friday showed US industrial production fell 0.3 percent in April, the fifth straight month of decline, while the University of Michigan’s US consumer sentiment index also plummeted to 88.6 in May from 95.9 in April.
That came after figures earlier in the week showed the US producer price index fell in April, confounding forecasts for a rise, while retail sales saw their weakest year-on-year growth since 2009.
“Investors are likely to start the week in cautious mode as markets assimilate the impact of weaker than expected US data and wait on developments in the Greek debt saga,” Ric Spooner, chief market analyst in Sydney at CMC Markets, wrote in an e-mail to clients.
“The first Fed rate hike now seems at least several months away,” he said. “While this supports equity valuations, it also means that the outlook for world growth remains subdued.”
The dollar bought 119.65 yen Monday, compared with 119.41 yen in New York late Friday.
