Daily Times

Tokyo stocks closed higher on Thursday, supported by a cheaper yen and sound corporate earnings despite lingering worries over rising coronavirus cases. The Nikkei 225 index ended up 0.52 percent, or 144.04 points, at 27,728.12, while the broader Topix index was up 0.39 percent, or 7.55 points, at 1,928.98 at the close. The dollar fetched 109.65 yen in Asian trade, up from 109.48 yen in New York and 108.98 yen in Tokyo on Wednesday. “Individual shares with strong earnings reports are rallying,” senior strategist Mitsuhiro Shibata of Daiwa Securities said. But “worries over the rise in coronavirus cases are capping the upward movement”, he added. Sony climbed 2.57 percent to 11,360 yen after it reported a better-than-expected first-quarter operating profit. Telecom operator SoftBank Corp closed up 1.69 percent at 1,474.5 yen after it reported an operating profit mostly in line with market expectations. And e-commerce giant Rakuten soared 8.38 percent to 1,358 yen after it announced a business partnership with Germany-based 1&1 on a mobile network.