Tokyo stocks open higher on cheap yen, US rallies

Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday, extending the rallies of the previous session as a cheap yen and gains on Wall Street supported market sentiment.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.98 percent or 218.00 points at 22,413.38 in early trade, while the broader Topix index advanced 1.18 percent or 17.94 points to 1,540.58. 

"Japanese shares are seen gaining further on the backdrop of rallies in US shares and a cheaper yen against the dollar," Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

Investors were closely watching earnings reports and trading in individual shares was expected to be solid, Okasan added.

The dollar fetched 106.05 yen in early Asian trade, against 105.95 yen in New York.

In Tokyo, Japan Airlines was up 5.79 percent at 1,772.5 yen despite announcing it suffered a deep quarterly net loss of $885 million as the coronavirus pandemic halted air travel around the world.

Nikon was up 2.72 percent at 793 yen after brokerage houses raised its share evaluation.

Steel makers were among the winners, with Nippon Steel trading up 3.15 percent at 904.7 yen and Kobe Steel up 4.05 percent at 360 yen.

Sony was up 2.87 percent at 8,553 yen ahead of its quarterly earnings report after the market close.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.9 percent at 26,664.40 and the Nasdaq finished up 1.5 percent with upbeat economic data prompting bargain hunting and a tech stock surge pushing the index to a record high.