TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher Friday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average scored a fresh record close and investors shrugged off further weakness in Japanese consumer prices.
Japan’s core consumer price index in December slid 0.2 percent from the year before, government data showed 30 minutes before the opening bell, underscoring how the long-running battle to conquer deflation is far from won.
And though the figure marked the 10th straight decline, it was slightly better than market expectations of a 0.3 percent decrease.
Falling prices are an economic drag as they discourage corporate capital investment and depress consumer spending on expectations prices will drop further.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.26 percent, or 51.12 points, to 19,453.51 in the first few minutes of trading, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.41 percent, or 6.33 points, to 1,551.34.
The dollar, meanwhile, was at 114.43 yen, slightly lower than 114.63 yen in London late Thursday.
In New York, the Dow rose 0.2 percent to end at 20,100.91, a day after finishing above 20,000 points for the first time.
In Tokyo trading, Toshiba was down 0.54 percent at 257.1 yen amid expectations it will make a decision on an overhaul plan later in the day, after news reports earlier this week said the troubled conglomerate may sell off nearly 20 precent of its chip business.
Energy explore Inpex was up 3.58 percent at 1,124 yen.
