The Nikkei star index rose 1.77% to 29,301.79 points and the Topix expanded 1.9% to 2,030.22 points.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange surged Tuesday in its first session of 2022, driven by the yen to its five-year low against the dollar and by Wall Street optimism the day before over Omicron’s impact on the economy.
The Nikkei star index rose 1.77% to 29,301.79 points and the Topix expanded 1.9% to 2,030.22 points.
Tokyo benefited from a yen that fell to its lowest level against the dollar since January 2017 – reaching 115.82 yen to the dollar – on Tuesday, a move in favor of Japanese exporting companies.
The Japanese currency lost 10% of its value against the dollar in 2021, as optimism about global economic growth pushed up U.S. bond yields and dampened reliance on safe-havens such as the yen.
“The gradual normalization of the world economy in 2022 will lead to that of the monetary policies of several central banks, including the Fed” and this will still weigh on the yen, commented David Forrester of Crédit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong, quoted by the agency Bloomberg.
Chinese markets were in the red, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropping 0.2% shortly before the close. Shanghai and Shenzhen closed behind.
On the side of values
TOYOTA: the car giant Toyota saw its stock soar 6.12% to 2,234.5 yen, helped by the decline of the yen and after the publication of information in the daily Nikkei according to which the group planned to develop by 2025 its own software platform for its vehicles.
SONY: the last cinematographic opus of the adventures of Spider-Man, “No Way Home”, collaboration between Sony (+ 3.41% to 14,970 yen) and Marvel, remained firmly attached to the head of the North American box office by garnering 52 , $ 7 million over the weekend, according to figures released Sunday.
The film released in mid-December in the United States, the first of the Covid era to raise more than a billion dollars since its release, brought a breath of fresh air to a film industry struggling to recover from the terrible blow carried by the pandemic.
On the currency and oil side
The yen continued to fall against the dollar, at a rate of one dollar against 115.78 yen around 07:00 GMT against 115.32 yen on Monday at 21:00 GMT.
The Japanese currency also fell sharply against the euro, which was worth 130.75 yen, against 130.28 yen the day before.
A euro was also traded for 1.1294 dollars, against 1.1297 dollars on Monday.
Oil was stable: around 06:50 GMT the price of a barrel of US crude WTI gained just 0.03% to 76.10 dollars and that of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea rose by 0.04% to 79.01 dollars .