Tokyo shares open higher

A man checking his mobile phone walks by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo. AP PHOTO/KOJI SASAHARA

Tokyo shares opened higher Tuesday after fresh Japanese data showed its economy did not shrink as much as initially believed in the April-June quarter.

The Nikkei-225 index at Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 0.57 percent, or 101.70 points, to 17,962.17 in the first minutes of trading.

The Topix index of all first section shares also added 0.33 percent, or 4.76 points, to 1,450.41.

The gains came as investors were positively surprised by Japan’s latest GDP data, which showed the world’s third largest economy contracted 0.3 percent during the April-June quarter, less than its original estimate of a 0.4 percent fall.

It was also better than the market forecast for a downward revision to a 0.5 percent contraction.

But many investors were seen staying away from making major bets in early trade, as they cautiously monitored anything related to the Chinese economy.

“While there are opportunities out there, there’s no rush to pick the bottom at this stage given prevailing uncertainties over the slowdown in the Chinese economy and the timing of the US interest-rate increase,” Tim Schroeders, a portfolio manager who helps oversee about $1 billion in equities at Pengana Capital, told Bloomberg News.

“Investors probably want to sit tight and watch developments closely,” he said.

Adding to concerns about China, Beijing on Monday lowered the country’s GDP growth figure for last year by 10 basis points to 7.3 percent.

Further muddying the waters, the prospects for a US rate hike have remained largely uncertain, with some analysts saying the latest US jobs data released last week did not necessarily provide clues strong enough to change Fed policy.

Financial markets in New York were closed on Monday for the Labour Day holiday.

In Tokyo forex trade, the dollar stood at 119.40 yen, compared with 119.34 yen in Tokyo Monday afternoon.

The euro was $1.1160 and 133.26 yen, compared with $1.1136 and 132.90 yen in Tokyo. TVJ

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