TOKYO: Tokyo stocks climbed 0.54 percent Wednesday as shareholders Raised bargains following days of losses, as Sony soared more than 4 percent while it said North Korea satire “The Interview” was now its best-grossing online film ever.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange — which opened down 0.44 percent at the start — rose 91.42 points to 16,974.61 by the break. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares added 0.48 percent, or 6.47 points, at 1,367.61.
The uptick in the Japanese market, following a more than 3.0 percent fall on Tuesday, came despite a weak lead from Wall Street where the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.74 percent Tuesday as oil prices plummeted to a fresh multi-year low.
Also hitting sentiment, data showed the US economy’s service sector slowed in December, with a deceleration in business activity, new orders and prices.
“The US non-manufacturing data was worse than expected, slightly setting back the optimistic outlook on the US economy,” Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager at SMBC Nikko Securities, told Bloomberg News.
Tokyo investors are also keeping a wary eye on Greece’s possible exit from the eurozone and lingering concern over European deflation.
On currency markets, the yen weakened sharply in morning trade — a plus for shares of Japanese exporters — with the dollar rising to 119.11 yen against 118.50 yen in New York.
In share trading, Sony soared 4.52 percent to 2,550.0 yen after saying its North Korea comedy, which triggered a hacking attack on Sony Pictures blamed by US authorities on Pyongyang, has made over $31 million on the Internet and other small-screen formats, its best-grossing online film ever.
Including box office takings the movie has made some $36 million, approaching its reported $44 million budget, according to Sony’s Hollywood studio.
In other trading, Toyota rose 2.4 percent to 7,475.0 yen while rival Nissan added 1.35 percent at 1.014.0 yen as its chief executive Carlos Ghosn said global car demand would likely rise between two and three percent this year.
Takata jumped 5.44 percent to 1,608.0 yen after banking giant Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group said it stood ready to help the auto parts maker which has been hammered by an exploding airbag crisis.
