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| - Tokyo stocks were flat in early trade on Friday, wobbling between positive and negative territory, with a stronger yen weighing on the market, along with continued uncertainty about the US presidential race. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index opened down 0.19 percent or 46.61 points at 24,058.67, while the broader Topix index was off 0.18 percent or 2.94 points at 1,647.00 But both indexes rebounded to positive territory shortly after, despite US President Donald Trump's making a brief speech to claim without evidence that Democrats were trying to "steal" the US election with illegal votes. "The yen's appreciation against the dollar could cap the upside" of the Tokyo market, said senior market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama of Monex, adding that rallies on Wall Street are giving some support to investor sentiment. Investors were closely watching Toyota's earnings report due during Tokyo trading hours, analysts said. The dollar fetched 103.67 yen in early Asian trade, against 103.55 yen in New York and 104.30 yen in Tokyo late Thursday. In Tokyo, Toyota was up 1.22 percent at 7,069 yen ahead of its earnings, while Honda was up 1.15 percent at 2,555 yen ahead of its earnings due after market close. Nintendo rallied 3.44 percent to 59,900 yen after it said its first-half net profit soared 243.6 percent on-year while upgrading its full-year sales and profit forecasts. Eisai climbed 6.43 percent to 10,510 yen, a day after the pharmaceutical firm surged 17.91 percent to the day's cap on a US Food and Drug Administration report saying an experimental Alzheimer's therapy it co-developed with Biogen appears effective. Japan's household spending dipped 10.2 percent in September on-year, according to the internal affairs ministry data released before the opening bell. The figure was largely in line with market expectations of a 10.5 percent drop, as consumers refrained from spending, particularly on transportation and leisure activities. On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 2.0 percent to 28,390.18. kh/sah/hg
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