Tokyo shares open 1.14 percent higher

Tokyo, Jul 4: Tokyo shares opened 1.14 per cent higher today (Jul 4), tracking last week's gains on Wall Street following solid US manufacturing data, dealers said. The headline Nikkei-225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange opened up 112.09 points at 9,980.16.

US stocks jumped sharply higher on Friday, closing out the best week in two years and starting the second half on a solid positive note.

In thin trade before the long July 4 holiday weekend, the Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 168.43 points (1.36 per cent) to 12,582.77.

Trading volume is also likely to be light in the Tokyo market with US markets closed today for Independence Day, said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager of investment strategy and research at Daiwa Securities.

"The Nikkei may rise further above the 10,000 mark if the US jobs data at the end of the week and the start of the US earnings season boost market sentiment," he told Dow Jones Newswires.

But stock gains until then would likely be limited since the index had already gained 3.0 per cent in the past four sessions, he added.

The US markets received a boost from the release of the ISM purchasing managers index for the manufacturing sector for June, which climbed 1.8 per cent from May, much better than economists had forecast.

But that came after a sharp seven-per cent drop in May from April, and the June index remained far below the level achieved in the first four months of the year.

The ISM's new orders index rose just 0.6 per cent in June, a suggestion of continuing fragility in the sector.

AFP