Tokyo stocks close higher on weaker yen

Currency traders watch monitors near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 28, 2024. | PHOTO: AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon

Tokyo, Japan — Tokyo stocks closed higher on Friday after the yen slid to its weakest value against the dollar since 1986.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.61 percent, or 241.54 points, to 39,583.08, while the broader Topix index rose 0.57 percent, or 15.93 points, to 2,809.63.

“As the yen weakened further against the dollar, Japanese equities extended their gains,” Iwai Cosmo Securities said.

READ: Yen slides lower as Tokyo stocks rise

A weaker Japanese currency helps exporters as it inflates their repatriated profits.

One dollar bought 161.12 yen at around 0100 GMT, before it was down to 160.93 yen in the afternoon in Tokyo. The greenback traded at 160.79 yen in New York on Thursday.

Japan’s finance ministry spent 9.79 trillion yen ($61 billion) to prop up the yen between April 26 and May 29.

But analysts now say it is possible traders will keep pushing the envelope to see at what point the government will act, with some saying the currency could hit 170.

The Japanese currency has cratered from around 115 per dollar before Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

This plunge is due in part to the Bank of Japan’s policy of maintaining ultra-low interest rates to support the economy, while other central banks have hiked theirs.

In Tokyo trading, SoftBank Group jumped 2.51 percent to 10,3980 yen while Toyota climbed 0.83 percent 3,290 yen.

Semiconductors were higher with Advantest surging 3.00 percent to 6,425 yen and Tokyo Electron advancing 0.29 percent to 34,900 yen.

Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals tanked 7.03 percent to 5,223 yen after the health ministry said the company was probing 76 more deaths in the supplement scare.

Shortly before the opening bell, ministry data showed Japan’s industrial output for May increased 2.8 percent from the previous month.