Tokyo - Tokyo shares ended higher on Tuesday, partly thanks to news that China will gradually ease its strict virus lockdown in economic powerhouse Shanghai.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.42 percent, or 112.70 points, to end at 26,659.75, while the broader Topix index added 0.19 percent, or 3.45 points, to 1,866.71. The dollar fetched 129.28 yen, slightly up from 129.08 yen in New York on Monday. Bargain-hunting and rising US futures kept the Nikkei in positive territory for most of the day, Okasan Online Securities said.
“In the absence of major clues... traders mostly took comfort from the positive direction of US stock futures,” the brokerage said. Also, “the news that Shanghai will lift lockdowns in June, as well as a weaker yen” bolstered share prices in Tokyo, Toshikazu Horiuchi of IwaiCosmo Securities told media.
On Tuesday, Shanghai declared it had achieved “zero-COVID” across all its districts, following an announcement that the city would gradually reopen businesses starting this week.
Among major shares in Tokyo, Sony Group was up 0.53 percent at 11,240 yen and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing rose 0.66 percent to 60,230 yen.
SoftBank Group gained 0.23 percent to 5,122 yen.
But Toyota fell 0.80 percent to 2,033 yen, with rival Nissan dropping 2.06 percent to 484.5 yen.