TOKYO: Japanese stocks opened sharply higher Friday, tracking record closes on Wall Street after US President Donald Trump promised to release details soon about a “phenomenal” tax-cut plan aimed at boosting the world’s top economy.
US and European equities as well as the dollar rallied Thursday after Trump said at a meeting with airline executives that he would release details of his blueprint in the coming weeks.
“Over the next two or three weeks,” he said, there would be an announcement that would be “phenomenal in terms of tax.”
The remark “gave markets hope that Trump will at last provide long-awaited details on his fiscal plans (tax cuts and infrastructure spending),” National Australia Bank economist Tapas Strickland said in a commentary.
In early trading, Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 1.58 percent, or 298.64 points, to 19,206.31, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was up 1.36 percent, or 20.55 points, to sit at 1,534.10.
Carmaker shares got a boost from a drop in the yen, which boosts exporters’ profitability.
The dollar was trading at 113.76 yen early Friday, up from 113.22 yen in New York Thursday afternoon and 112.20 yen in Tokyo earlier in the day.
Toyota shares rose 1.71 percent to 6,362 yen and Honda added 2.19 percent to trade at 3,581 yen.
Nissan rose 0.90 yen to 1,119.5 yen. On Thursday after markets closed, the automaker announced a fall in its nine-month profit owing to the cost of bigger incentives offered to customers in the key US market.
Toshiba rose 2.08 percent to 230.2 yen as investors brace for Tuesday’s earnings announcement when the firm is expected to unveil losses in its US nuclear power unit that reportedly could top $6 billion.
Financial shares gained with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rising 2.52 percent to 758.7 yen and brokerage Nomura gaining 2.00 percent to sit at 756.5 yen.
On Wall Street the blue-chip Dow, the broader S&P 500 and the tech-rich Nasdaq all jumped to fresh all-time peaks following Trump’s tax-cut comments, each closing up 0.6 percent.
