Tokyo shares was higher in early trade on Monday as reports said the Japanese government may declare a state of emergency this week to contain the coronavirus.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.27 percent, or 238.95 points, at 18,056.40 in early trade, while the broader Topix was up 1.97 percent, or 26.17 points, at 1,351.30, reports BSS.
Media reports said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to declare a state of emergency in parts of Japan including Tokyo as the number of people infected with the new coronavirus continues to increase.
“Rallies are due to media reports about state of emergency, as investors had been speculating for days about it,” Kyoko Amemiya, senior market analyst at SBI Securities, told AFP.
A state of emergency declaration was already priced in by the market, and the reports gave relief to investors who see the declaration as positive for containing the virus, she said.
Shares in telecom firms are higher as they are “at the centre of changes in ways of working amid the virus” pandemic, she said.
The dollar fetched 108.90 yen in early Asian trade, against 108.21 yen in New York.
In Tokyo, shares were higher across the board, with Toyota gaining 4.67 percent to 6,484 yen and Sony trading up 3.62 percent at 3,867 yen.
Fujifilm Holdings was up 7.95 percent at 6,222 yen amid expectations for its medicine Avigan as anti-coronavirus treatment.
Mobile phone carrier KDDI was up 6.68 percent at 3,306 yen and its bigger rival NTT Docomo was up 6.15 percent at 3349 yen.
