TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended the morning higher Friday, putting them on course for a ninth straight gain as a slumping yen boosted exporters, but Nintendo dived after the release of its highly anticipated iPhone game Super Mario Run.
After Wednesday’s Federal Reserve rate hike, the dollar was trading around 10-month highs against the Japanese unit and multi-year highs against the euro.
A weaker yen is generally good for profits for Japanese firms doing business abroad, stoking demand for their shares.
“The yen is weakening at such a speed that it looks like it’s pricing in three US rate hikes next year,” said Nomura senior strategist Juichi Wako.
“If current levels hold, we could see a 20 percent rise in (Japanese corporate) profit next fiscal year,” he told Bloomberg News.
The dollar bought 118.20 yen Friday against 118.17 yen in New York Thursday afternoon, while the euro bought $1.0429 against $1.0416. The single European currency briefly fell below $1.04, hitting its lowest level since early 2003.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which closed at a fresh one-year high on Thursday, added 0.68 percent, or 131.82 points, to 19,405.61 by the break. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares was up 0.51 percent, or 7.82 points, at 1,550.54.
Nintendo dived 4.89 percent to 26,225 yen, hours after the game giant released its Super Mario Run mobile game.
The drop could be a sign that gamers — and investors — are disappointed by the effort, although analysts said profit-taking may also be at play as the fall comes after a sharp run-up in the shares prior to Thursday’s release.
