Tokyo stocks surged at the open Wednesday on a weaker yen after Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen signalled the US central bank’s next rate increase could come at any time.
But troubled conglomerate Toshiba suffered another collapse, diving almost 13 percent after warning of a multibillion-dollar loss because of its US nuclear unit.
Yellen presented an upbeat view of the world’s largest economy in her testimony to Congress, noting labour market conditions continue to improve and inflation is inching up to the Fed’s two percent target.
She confirmed another rate increase was on the way, which leaves open the possibility of a move at the March 14-15 policy meeting.
That propelled the dollar to 114.35 yen from 114.27 yen on Tuesday in New York. A weaker yen helps exporters as it makes their products more competitive overseas.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 1.05 percent, or 201.33 points, to 19,440.31 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.96 percent, or 14.76 points, at 1,553.88.
All three main US indexes set records for a fourth straight session, extending an advance that was fuelled by President Donald Trump’s promise last week to unveil “phenomenal” tax reforms soon.
“In principle, the Trump rally continues,” said Toshihiko Matsuno, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities.
“Yellen seemed so positive” towards hiking interest rates, he told AFP.
Toshiba sank 12.97 percent to 200 yen a day after issuing a grim preliminary earnings forecast, which prompted its chairman to resign as it hinted at a fresh accounting scandal.
The firm said it was on track for a net loss of 390 billion yen in the fiscal year to March, hit by a writedown topping 700 billion yen at US nuclear division Westinghouse Electric.
Hours after it missed a deadline to publish its financial results, the Japanese industrial giant said lawyers and an independent auditing firm were probing an acquisition by Westinghouse.
A whistleblower had complained that executives at the US unit exerted “inappropriate pressure” over accounting at the firm, Toshiba said.
The revelation comes less than two years after Toshiba—one of Japan’s best-known companies which employs about 188,000 people globally—was hammered by an embarrassing profit-padding scandal.
Among other firms mobile carrier Softbank was up 0.87 percent at 8,610 yen after it announced it will buy US asset-management firm Fortress Investment Group for $3.3 billion in cash, reports AFP, Tokyo.
