Business News

TOKYO, (APP/AFP) – Tokyo shares rose for a third
straight session on Tuesday, as investors look to Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen’s Congressional testimony and Britain’s EU membership vote later this week.
Yellen is scheduled to speak on monetary policy from Tuesday in a
semiannual report to lawmakers, as markets try to gauge when the Fed will lift interest rates again.
At the close, Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.28 percent,
or 203.81 points, at 16,169.11, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares added 1.15 percent, or 14.71 points, to 1,293.90.
Exporters fell at the open as a sharply stronger yen dented their
profit outlook, but the currency’s rally later fizzled. The dollar was at 104.43 yen, up from 103.93 yen in New York, in the afternoon.
“Yellen may stress concerns over the economy, which will put downward
pressure on the dollar,” said Toshihiko Matsuno, chief strategist at SMBC
Friend Securities.
“There’s still some time until the UK referendum and there’s a chance
that public opinion, which had leaned towards remain, may change,” he told Bloomberg News.
Britain’s referendum is shaping up to be a tight race, according to
the latest polls.
The surveys were mostly taken after the murder of Jo Cox, a pro-EU
Labour lawmaker and mother of two, who was shot and stabbed on the way to meet members of the public in northern England last week.
In share trading, Sony rose 2.42 percent to 3,060 yen, Toyota added
1.24 percent to 5,637 yen, while Panasonic was up 1.63 percent at 939.7 yen.
Mitsubishi Motors edged up 0.18 percent to 529 yen as the Nikkei
business daily said Tokyo plans to let the automaker continue selling four minicar models whose fuel-efficiency data had been falsified.
Drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo soared 7.91 percent to 2,576 yen a day after
announcing a share buyback.