TOKYO: Tokyo stocks rose on Tuesday morning as investor sentiment was buoyed by steep gains in overseas equities overnight and hopes of enhanced trade after a broad agreement was reached in the 12-party Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 267.82 points, or 1.49 percent, from Monday to end the morning at 18,273.31. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 20.56 points, or 1.40 percent, to 1,484.48.
Every industry category on the main section except rubber products gained ground, with gainers led by iron and steel, agriculture and fishery and oil and coal products.
Stocks opened sharply higher, with the Nikkei up more than 300 points at times. An uptick in global risk appetite displayed in European and U.S. stocks’ buoyancy overnight drove buying, with Tokyo issues technically due for a rebound after recent losses, said Chihiro Ota, general manager of investment research at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.
“Speculation that the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising U.S. interest rates for the time being is keeping world markets in a risk-on mood,” Ota said.
Adding to soft September U.S. jobs data out Friday, which had dampened expectations of an imminent rate hike, the Institute for Supply Management’s report on the U.S. services sector came in below market consensus Monday, Ota added.
News of a broad agreement on the TPP after more than five years of talks also spurred buying, with the Pacific Rim trade liberalization deal thought to be a boon for Japan’s economy in the long term.
