Techs push Japan higher again
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Beef restaurant chain Yoshinoya may trim the opening hours of some stores.
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TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Japanese stocks have opened strongly Tuesday as investors snap up Tokyo Electron and other technology issues after the U.S. Nasdaq index rallied to a two-year high.
The Nikkei 225 average is up 1.12 percent at 10,618.01, while the broader Topix index is up 0.95 percent at 1,035.97, extending the previous session's 0.76 percent gain.
Markets in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Australia are all higher in early trade.
The dollar is trading at 107.08 yen Tuesday morning in Asia, while the euro is at $1.2480. The Australian dollar is at 74.31 U.S. cents, near six-year highs.
The gains in Asia follow a strong performance on Wall Street Monday. The Dow rose 1.2 percent to 10,450.00, while the Nasdaq closed above 2000, up almost 1.7 percent to 2006.48.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange trades for a half-day session on Tuesday before closing for the New Year holiday.
Markets will be closed until January 5, so some investors may lighten up on long positions as Tuesday's session wears on, traders said.
Japanese restaurant operator Yoshinoya D&C Co is up 0.65 percent at 156,000 yen.
Investors apparently are undeterred by a newspaper report that Yoshinoya will stop operating some of its beef bowl restaurants late at night because the ban on beef imports from the United States has led to a shortage of beef.
Yoshinoya gets about 99 percent of its beef from the United States, which last week discovered its first case of mad cow disease.
Almost all Yoshinoya restaurants operate 24 hours a day. But starting Thursday, 100 to 200 of its 980 restaurants will be closed for about 10 hours from late at night to early in the morning, the Nihon Keizai business daily reported.
Sampei Construction Co is bid-only at 97,000 yen, 2.1 percent above Monday's close of 95,000 after the medium-sized construction firm said its main creditor, Resona Bank, had agreed to its request for 27.2 billion yen in financial assistance.
Sampei said 24.2 billion yen of that would come in the form of debt forgiveness. The company will seek to revive its business with the help of the state-run Resolution and Collection Corp.
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Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
