Tokyo shares jump by break after Opec deal, yen falls

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks rallied on a weaker yen on Thursday morning, while energy giants Inpex and Japan Petroleum soaring more than 10% after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)hammered out a last-minute deal to cut oil production and boost prices.

Exporters were the main beneficiaries of a fall in the yen to its weakest level in more than nine months as investors welcomed the agreement at the oil cartel, which sent crude prices surging on Wednesday.

Inpex ploughed 10.69% higher to ¥1 201 and Japan Petroleum rocketed 12.97% to ¥2 629 after Opec said its 14 members had agreed on specific targets that will reduce production by 1.2 million barrels a day from next month.

Key non-member Russia also committed to a cut.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index was on course to close at its highest level this year, jumping 413.90 points, to 18 722.38 by the break.

The Topix index of all first-section issues was up 27.37 points, at 1 496.80.

The dollar rose to ¥114.82 in the morning, a level last seen in mid-February, before coming off slightly to trade at ¥114.33.

The greenback also won support from growing optimism over the US economy and expectations Donald Trump will fan inflation - forcing a rise in interest rates - with his big spending and tax cutting plans.

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book survey, released on Wednesday, said the world's largest economy continues to expand nationwide, while a reading of private-sector employment showed hiring at a much faster pace in November than October.

"What's key is the rise in expected (US) inflation," said Norihiro Fujito, a Tokyo-based senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

"With higher expectations for inflation, long-term yields (on Treasury bonds) have risen in the US, which in turn has weakened the yen, boosting Japanese stocks," he told Bloomberg News.

Toyota climbed 2.0% to ¥6 782 and Canon rose 1.71% to ¥3 317.

Pharmaceutical giant Takeda was up 0.38% at ¥4 703 after media reports said its talks had broken off with Valeant over a possible $10bn purchase of the Canadian firm's Salix stomach drugs business.