Tokyo Stocks Close 0.67% Higher on Greek Vote, Yellen Comments
Tokyo stocks rose 0.67 percent Thursday after Greek MPs passed unpopular reforms crucial to keeping the country in the eurozone, while the dollar picked up against the yen after Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen reaffirmed a U.S. interest rate hike by year-end.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 136.79 points to close at 20,600.12, while the Topix index of all first-section shares climbed 0.88 percent, or 14.42 points, to 1,660.83.
Lawmakers in Athens gave the go-ahead to major reform proposals demanded by creditors -- including reforming taxes, pensions and labor rules -- to refinance the country and keep it in the eurozone.
However, while Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won the day, he suffered a major mutiny in his own party.
Now the agreement must go before the domestic parliaments of some of the other 19 members of the eurozone, with all eyes in particular on EU powerhouse Germany, which is set to vote Friday.
"It looks like we could put Greece on the back burner for a while,” said Keith Poore, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors.
In testimony to Congress, Yellen stuck to the position of the Fed policy meeting that a hike would come "at some point this year" if "the economy evolves as we expect".
Her comments came as the Fed's closely watched Beige Book showed the world's top economy grew in May and June, with all 12 of the bank's districts enjoying expansion.
The dollar rose afterwards and in Tokyo Thursday it bought 123.90 yen, up from 123.79 yen in New York.
"Yellen’s comments are a plus for Japanese stocks," Mitsushige Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management, told Bloomberg News.
"The biggest risk would be a deterioration in the economic situation that would mean the U.S. couldn’t raise rates.”
Toyota shares rose 1.92 percent to 8,432 yen, Sony added 0.65 percent to 3,475 yen while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing climbed 1.67 percent to 56,600 yen.
Source: Agence France Presse
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