Japan : Nikkei buoyed by risk appetite after FBI clears Clinton

TOKYO : Japan’s Nikkei share average rose on Monday, buoyed by a recovery in global risk appetite after news that U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will not face charges for the latest probe into her use of a private email server.FBI Director James Comey said in a letter to Congress that the agency’s review of the newly discovered emails did not change the agency’s previous conclusion that no charges were warranted against Clinton ahead of Tuesday’s election.

Markets had been roiled in recent sessions by signs of a tightening presidential race between frontrunner Clinton and her Republican rival, Donald Trump, whose stances on foreign policy, trade and immigration raised fears about their potential impact on global growth.

“Until tomorrow’s election – the day after tomorrow, in Asian time – it is hard for investors to focus on anything else,” said Ayako Sera, market economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

“We had U.S. employment data on Friday, which is usually a major focus, but this time, the reaction was muted,” she said.

The October nonfarm payrolls report showed a year-on-year increase in average hourly earnings of 2.8 percent, the biggest gain since June 2009, from 2.7 percent in September.

U.S. employers added 161,000 jobs last month, below expectations for a gain of 175,000 jobs, according to a Reuters poll of economists, but the gain was still seen as an indication of a strong pace of hiring that backed expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike next month.

But it was Monday’s Clinton news that sent the U.S. dollar up more than 1 percent against the perceived safe-haven yen . The weaker yen gave Japanese equities a tailwind.

The Nikkei was up 1.4 percent at 17,135.40 at midday, pulling away from 2-1/2 week lows plumbed on Friday, when it marked a 3.1 percent drop for the week — its largest weekly fall in four months.

Monday’s move puts the Nikkei on track for an upside target of 17,300 said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.

“We have to keep in mind that just because Hillary won’t face charges for her email, that isn’t a guarantee that she will win Tuesday’s election,” he said. “People remember Brexit, so they know that anything is possible,” he added, referring to Britain’s unexpected vote in June to leave the European Union.

Suzuki Motor’s shares were up 8.3 percent at midday, rising to their highest levels in a year after the vehicle maker hiked its operating profit forecast for the business year through March 2017.

Japan Display Inc added 7.9 percent after the Asahi newspaper reported over the weekend that its state-backed main investor is readying some $ 500 million in aid for the struggling Apple Inc supplier.

Dentsu Inc slipped 0.2 percent after public NHK broadcaster said the headquarters of Japan’s largest advertising agency were raided by the Labour Ministry on Monday over suspicion that several workers had been forced to work long hours in violation of labour laws.

The broader Topix was up 1.1 percent at 1,361.68, while the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 also added 1.1 percent to 12,201.90.