February 12, 2021: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday in cautious trade, with concerns about overheating weighing on the market after a mixed close on Wall Street.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.25 percent or 74.04 points at 29,636.97 in early trade, while the broader Topix index edged up 0.25 percent or 4.91 points to 1,935.73.
Investors in the Japanese market “are aware of potential overheating following a mixed performance in US stocks”, said Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito.
Even though profit-taking was weighing on the market, expectations for additional US stimulus will offset some of the negative impact, Mizuho Securities said.
The dollar fetched 104.73 yen in early Asian trade, against 104.74 yen in New York late Thursday.
In Tokyo, Toyota was up 2.03 percent at 8,295 yen after it said it plans to sell electric vehicles in the US market — seen as a key step in its shift towards EVs.
Its rivals were lower, with Honda trading down 3.83 percent at 3,010 yen and Nissan dipping 4.38 percent to 624.4 yen.
Oil developer Inpex was up 3.08 percent at 736 yen after it announced a better-than-expected full-year operating profit forecast.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended down less than 0.1 percent to 31,430.30 while the broad-based S&P ended up 0.2 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq closed up 0.4 percent.
