Tokyo stocks soar on Wall Street rally, optimism over Fed's rate hike

July 14, 2023 (MLN): Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday, extending Wall Street rallies after easing US inflation stoked hopes the Federal Reserve's long-running campaign of interest rate hikes could be near an end, APP reported.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.98%, or 318.64 points, at 32,737.97 in early trade, while the broader Topix index added 0.52%, or 11.65 points, to 2,254.64.

Overnight, Wall Street stocks rose for a fourth straight session, lifting the S&P 500 to a fresh 15-month peak on the back of benign inflation data and good corporate earnings.

US wholesale prices, measured through the producer price index (PPI), ticked up by 0.1% last month, slightly less than expected.

The data comes on the heels of Wednesday's US consumer price report that also lagged expectations, showing progress in the Federal Reserve's aggressive campaign to counter inflation.

"After the softer US CPI print on Wednesday, the cooling US economy narrative was further supported overnight by a softer-than-expected US PPI print," National Australia Bank strategist Rodrigo Catril said in a note.

The dollar fetched 137.92 yen in early Asian trade, against 138.03 yen in New York where it slipped from 138.69 yen in Tokyo late Thursday.

Among individual equities, shipping firm Kawasaki Kisen rallied 3.96% to 3,963 yen, chip-testing equipment maker Advantest surged 5.23% to 21,615 yen, and electronic components maker Kyocera was up 1.27% at 7,654 yen.

Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing was down 0.96% at 35,110 yen, after rallying 1.69% in the previous session.

After the closing bell Thursday, it said it had lifted its annual profit forecast to 260 billion yen from the previous estimate of 240 billion yen.

Nissan was down 2.31% at 555.2 yen after a report said its investment in an EV joint venture with Renault, Ampere, will likely be 100 billion yen ($725 million), a stake that is likely smaller than 10%.

Reports had suggested Nissan's stake would be up to 15%. The official valuation target for the EV spinoff is not yet known.

Its bigger rival Toyota was down 0.50% at 2,200.5 yen, while Honda was off 0.26% at 4,178 yen.

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