Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday as investors took heart from rebound rallies on Wall Street, shrugging off concerns over the Delta variant of Covid-19.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.72 percent or 481.13 points at 28,421.55 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 1.66 percent or 31.75 points to 1,944.13. “Excessive worry about an economic slowdown is receding after a sharp decline in interest rates” supported US market gains last week, which in turn prompted rallies in Tokyo, Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary. Worries over the spread of coronavirus variants are capping the upward movement of stocks, however, analysts added. The dollar fetched 110.17 yen in early Asian trade, against 110.03 in New York late Friday. On Wall Street, all three major US indices finished at all-time highs, following a strong session in Europe.
In Tokyo, Daiichi Sankyo was up 2.65 percent at 2,297 yen after a report said the pharmaceutical company is preparing to start the final stage of its Covid-19 vaccine trial as soon as this year. Its rival Eisai was down 3.67 percent at 10,270 yen despite a report it has developed a cancer test kit. Among other shares, Toyota was up 1.59 percent at 9,803 yen, Sony was up 1.90 percent at 11,265 yen and SoftBank Group was up 2.32 percent at 7,497 yen.