TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened 0.41 percent higher Friday on a weaker yen ahead of the release of fresh US jobs data later in the day.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 77.93 points to 19,194.34 at the start, as investors shrugged off a weak lead from US markets.
Wall Street finished lower Thursday on the eve of a highly anticipated jobs report, seen as a litmus test for an interest rate lift-off by the Federal Reserve.
“If today’s jobs report is at a level that’s in line with estimates, the probability for a rate hike this year will increase,” Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc., told Bloomberg News.
“The yen is weakening amid this speculation for higher interest rates, and that’s a plus for Japan. However, stocks may struggle to move higher today as we’re in a wait-and-see mood ahead of the report.”
However, shares of embattled airbag maker Takata took another beating on Friday, plummeting more than 12 percent in early deals — after double-digit losses Wednesday and Thursday.
The three-day rout came after Honda dumped it as an airbag parts supplier and US safety regulators slapped it with a record fine over products that have been linked to at least eight deaths and scores of injuries globally.
Wall Street drifted lower Thursday ahead of the highly anticipated jobs report, which was expected to show October job growth strengthened to 181,000 new payrolls from September’s paltry 142,000 reading.
Falling oil prices took a bite out of petroleum-linked stocks, hitting Dow members Chevron and ExxonMobil.
The Dow edged down 0.02 percent, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.11 percent and the Nasdaq was the laggard, dropping 0.29 percent.
In currency markets, the dollar ticked down to 121.71 yen from 121.74 yen Thursday in New York, but still up from rates below 120 yen in recent weeks. A weaker yen is a plus for Japanese exporters.
The euro traded flat at $1.0881 and fell to 132.42 yen from 132.46 yen in US trade.
