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| - Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday as risk appetite picked up on a cheaper yen and advances on Wall Street, ahead of the planned signing of a China-US trade pact. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.66 percent or 156.57 points to 24,007.14 in early trade while the broader Topix index was up 0.33 percent or 5.71 points at 1,740.87. "Expectations of improved US-China relations are providing a tailwind," said Makoto Sengoku, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute. On Wall Street on Monday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq surged to fresh records amid enthusiasm at the impending signing of the US-China trade deal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also advanced 0.3 percent two days before President Donald Trump is due to sign a "phase one" agreement with Beijing. Risk aversion also receded after Washington formally retracted its accusation that China manipulates its currency to gain unfair trade advantage, Sengoku said. The yen has fallen as safe-haven buying waned. The dollar rose to 110.06 yen from 109.92 yen in New York on Monday and the 108-yen range seen a week ago. In individual stocks trade, Nissan fell 1.77 percent to 625.6 yen after reports that it has mulled plans for a possible break-away from its alliance with Renault, which has a 43 percent stake in the scandal-hit Japanese automaker. "After previous much sharper drops in Nissan, today's fall looks limited," Sengoku at Tokai Tokyo told AFP. "The stock price wouldn't be at this level if investors were seriously concerned about the possibility," he said, adding many of them were still in a "wait-and-see" mood. Toyota gained 0.95 percent to 7,734 yen and IT investor SoftBank Group rose 2.41 percent to 4,996 yen. mis/sah/hg
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