Tokyo stocks open higher on weak yen, Trump 'hope'

Tokyo stocks opened higher Monday, extending last week's gains as a weaker yen lifted exporters with sentiment buoyed on optimism for US President-elect Donald Trump's administration.

The real-estate mogul-cum-reality TV star's shock win of the US presidency has sparked a surprising rally on Wall Street and other global markets last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial average hit fresh all-time highs on Thursday and Friday, reflecting expectations that pro-business policies and ramped-up public works spending would spur greater economic growth.

The Dow edged up 0.2 percent to 18,847.66 in trading Friday thinned by the Veterans Day holiday, recording its best week in five years.

Expectations that plans for huge infrastructure spending will fan inflation have lit a fire under the dollar as dealers bet the Federal Reserve eventually will have to hike borrowing costs more aggressively to cap rising prices.

"The Federal Reserve now face the conundrum of rising inflation expectations," Chris Weston, chief market strategist in Melbourne at IG Ltd, said in a client note, according to Bloomberg News.

"What we saw last week was a genuine change in the thought process of many money managers, with some feeling we need to be prepared for inflation, while many others have been truly sceptical of the moves and note that while markets are firmly in the 'hope' phase there are great execution risks."

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index opened up 0.53 percent, or 92.7 points, at 17,467.49, while the broader Topix index of all-first section issues rose 0.63 percent, or 8.68 points, to 1,386.96.

The dollar shot up to 107.33 yen in Asia early Monday, its highest reading in four months, from 106.67 yen in New York on Friday afternoon.

Also providing a tailwind was government data released just before the opening bell that showed Japan's economy grew more than expected in the third quarter as exports offset slack consumer spending.

The result offered up some rare good news for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's beleaguered bid to rejuvenate the world's third-largest economy that has been beset by weak growth and a long battle with deflation.