schema:articleBody
| - Tokyo stocks closed higher on Wednesday on continued optimism for a new coronavirus vaccine, further extending near-three-decade market highs. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 1.78 percent or 444.01 points to end at 25,349.60, while the broader Topix index gained 1.66 percent or 28.27 points to 1,729.07. "The Nikkei index rallied for the seven straight session... the sense of relief after certain political events and hope for the development of a new coronavirus vaccine continued," Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary. US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said on Monday that its Covid vaccine candidate had shown 90 percent effectiveness in tests involving more than 40,000 people. The novel coronavirus has infected nearly 51 million people worldwide, with more than 1.2 million deaths. In Tokyo trading, Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing jumped 3.00 percent to 79,150 yen while Sony climbed 1.34 percent to 9,040 yen. Toyota gained 3.24 percent to 7,503 yen while its rival Honda grew 2.28 percent to 2,994.5 yen. Drugmakers were higher with Takeda Pharmaceutical advancing 2.14 percent to 3,624 yen, Astellas rising 3.06 percent to 1,632 yen and Daiichi Sankyo jumping 4.10 percent to 3,474 yen. Japanese engineering giant Toshiba was up 0.76 percent to 2,751 yen after announcing it would stop constructing new coal-fired power plants and shift to renewable energy in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. SoftBank Group dropped 2.47 percent to 6,581 yen. The dollar fetched 105.28 yen in Asian trade, against 105.31 yen in New York and 105.00 yen in Tokyo late Tuesday. nf/kaf/gle
|