Tokyo Stocks Open Higher after Upbeat US Data

Tokyo stocks opened higher Friday, rebounding following gains on Wall Street after US economic data showed inflation may be slowing.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.44 percent, or 401.72 points, to 28,221.05 in early trade, while the broader Topix index rose 1.07 percent, or 20.66 points, to 1,954.31.

The dollar fetched 133.16 yen, against 133.05 yen in New York on Thursday.

The Japanese market will likely develop "solid" gains on Friday, Okasan Online Securities said, in part because concerns are receding over inflation in the United States, which some investors had feared could trigger a global recession.

The data showed that US wholesale prices cooled sharply in July, with a steep 0.5 percent drop compared to June, raising hopes of less aggressive Federal Reserve monetary policy.

It came on the heels of Wednesday's report showing the annual US consumer price index eased to 8.5 percent in July from a 40-year high of 9.1 percent the previous month.

In Tokyo, SoftBank Group surged 3.44 percent to 5,498 yen after the investment behemoth announced Wednesday that it expects to report a gain of about $34 billion by relinquishing a portion of its stake in e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Toyota, meanwhile, climbed 1.26 percent to 2,114.5 yen and Sony Group jumped 1.65 percent to 11,395 yen, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing gained 1.57 percent to 84,080 yen.