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| - Tokyo stocks opened higher on Thursday, taking a cue from record-setting advances on Wall Street on strong US economic data and hopes for containing the deadly new coronavirus. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rallied 1.38 percent or 321.15 points to 23,640.71 in early trade while the broader Topix index was up 1.23 percent or 20.95 points at 1,722.78. On Wall Street on Wednesday, the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged to fresh records following strong US jobs data. Markets also continued to bet the new coronavirus will not significantly crimp global growth as a global race to develop a vaccine accelerates. There is confidence among investors that "US stocks can't go down", said Makoto Noji, senior strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities. The confidence stems from hopes for pump-priming measures by China's government and rising public support for Donald Trump's re-election, he said. But Noji does not expect the rally will continue for long. "The virus has not spread in the United States, so it has not directly triggered drops in US stocks," he said. But "it is considered inevitable that there will be an indirect negative effect from lower foreign demand and lower investment in the petroleum industry due to falls in oil prices," Noji said. "It will be felt in the US economy in weeks or months," he warned in a commentary. The dollar held steady, trading at 109.80 yen against 109.86 yen in New York Wednesday afternoon. In individual stocks trade, exporters were higher with Toyota up 1.58 percent at 7,837 yen, hours ahead of its nine-month results. Canon gained 1.86 percent to 2,929 yen while Sony was up 1.31 percent to 7,759 yen. mis/sah/jah
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