Tokyo stocks gain on Xi's pledge to open Chinese economy

Tokyo stocks gained Tuesday as fears over a trade war between the US and China eased after Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to open his country's economy further.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.54 percent or 116.06 points to close at 21,794.32 while the broader Topix index was up 0.35 percent or 6.06 percent at 1,731.94.

"Shares opened lower but turned into positive territory after President Xi's speech," said Hikaru Sato, senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.

"Investors welcomed his remarks as a sign of easing trade war fears," Sato told AFP.

Promising a "new phase of opening up", Xi told an economic forum on the southern island of Hainan that Beijing "does not seek a trade surplus" and hopes to increase imports.

Xi's remarks also pushed the dollar higher against the yen, which helped boost Japanese shares, Sato said.

The dollar was trading at 107.19 yen against 106.75 yen in New York Monday afternoon.

US stocks ended volatile trade modestly higher on Monday.

They registered strong gains for much of the day amid a dearth of new developments in the ongoing US-China trade showdown that has alarmed markets in recent weeks.

But the gains were tempered by late-breaking news on an investigation into President Donald Trump's personal lawyer.

Shortly before the closing bell, it emerged that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had raided the offices of Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

In Tokyo trade, the auto sector gained ground as Toyota jumped 1.43 percent to 6,838 yen with Honda up 2.60 percent at 3,784 yen.

Sony surged 2.06 percent to 5,328 yen but Nintendo lost 1.03 percent to 45,050 yen.

Market heavyweight Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo clothing chain, fell 0.15 percent to 46,550 yen.