Tokyo trade seesaws on Ukraine crisis, China lockdown

Business Desk: Dhaka, Apr-04,

Tokyo’s Nikkei index opened higher on Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street, but early trade was volatile as
investors eyed developments in Ukraine and Covid-19 lockdowns in China.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.28 percent, or 78.49 points, to 27,744.47 in early trade, but later sank into negative territory.

The broader Topix index added 0.27 percent, or 5.18 points, to 1,949.45.

Wall Street stocks finished modestly higher Friday as solid US jobs data boosted expectations for more Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.4 percent, while the broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.3 percent.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index won 0.3 percent.

Traders were monitoring the situation in Ukraine as global outrage mounts at accusations of Russian war crimes with the discovery of mass graves and corpses in streets near Kyiv.

They were also keeping an eye on Shanghai, China’s economic engine room and largest city with 25 million people, as the city is being split in two for lockdown to contain a Covid-19 wave.

But Mizuho Securities said in a note that “gains on US shares will help boost Tokyo shares”.

The dollar fetched 122.38 yen, slightly down from 122.49 yen in New York on Friday.

In Tokyo trading, chip-related shares tanked, Tokyo Electron, a major producer of tools to build semiconductors, dropping 2.05 percent to 60,410 yen, while chip-testing equipment maker Advantest plunging 1.57 percent to
9,350 yen.

Automakers were lower with Toyota shedding 0.34 percent to 2,197.5 yen, Honda falling 1.01 percent to 3,429 yen and Nissan dropping 1.31 percent to 532.9 yen.

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