TOKYO – Tokyo stocks opened 1.22 percent higher on Monday, tracking strong gains on Wall Street last week on robust jobs data.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed 108.06 points to 8,939.99.
“The market looks bullish on improvement in the US jobless data,” SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi told Dow Jones Newswires shortly before the market opening.
The euro bought $1.3128 and 100.48 yen in early Asian trade, slightly down from $1.3156 and 100.80 yen in New York late Friday. The dollar changed hands at 76.56 yen, almost flat from New York.
A strong US jobs report for January sent US stocks soaring on Friday as investors celebrated a surge in job growth that pointed to new vitality in the fragile recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.23 percent to 12,860.23, its highest close since May 2008 while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 1.61 percent to 2,905.66, its best close since December 2000 and the dot.com collapse.