Tokyo shares surge at open, chasing Wall Street rally

Tokyo shares surged at the open of the first trading day of 2018 on Thursday, trying to catch up with recent rallies on Wall Street, fuelled by optimism over the US economy.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.44 percent or 327.14 points to 23,092.08 in the first minutes of trading, while the broader Topix index added 1.30 percent or 23.62 points to 1,841.18.

"Tokyo shares are expected to make a good start to the new year on the back of gains made in foreign markets during the New Year break," Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

The Tokyo bourse has been riding high, gaining 19.1 percent last year to finish 2017 near a quarter-century high.

During the Tokyo market's break, US shares leapt to new records, with petroleum-linked shares rallying as oil prices closed at their highest level since December 2014.

All three major US indices jumped to new record highs Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial up 0.4 percent to 24,922.68.

Global investors perked up after seeing recent robust US economic indicators, including a strong report by the Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers, which rated manufacturing activity at its second-highest level in seven years.

"All eyes will continue to stay on US data to be released this week, including the jobs data," Okasan said.

"We must monitor the rising trend of oil prices as anti-government demonstrations spread in Iran," it added.

The dollar stood at 112.66 yen, edging up from 112.52 yen seen in New York Wednesday.

Among major Tokyo shares, Toyota added 2.07 percent to 7,362 yen and Uniqlo-operator Fast Retailing jumped 2.89 percent to 46,210.

Sony surged 3.19 percent to 5,245. Panasonic added 1.49 percent to 1,674.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group added 2.01 percent to 843 yen.

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