Tokyo, April 11, 2019 (AFP)
Tokyo stocks closed slightly higher on Thursday after European leaders agreed with Britain to delay Brexit by up to six months.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which opened lower, was up 0.11 percent or 23.81 points to end at 21,711.38, while the broader Topix index edged down 0.07 percent or 1.14 points at 1,606.52.
The deal struck during late-night talks in Brussels averts a chaotic no-deal British departure at the end of the week.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said Thursday that Britain might still manage to execute an orderly departure from the European Union by late May.
"European leaders decided to extend the deadline of Brexit until the end of October. Traders reacted positively as chaos is temporarily avoided," Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.
The dollar fetched 111.11 yen in Asian trade against 111.00 yen in New York.
The British pound was little moved against the dollar, changing hands at $1.3081 yen, against $1.3091 in New York.
In Tokyo, market heavyweight SoftBank Group jumped 3.69 percent to 1,277 yen.
E-commerce giant Rakuten dropped 4.18 percent to 1,077 yen, while mega bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial was off 1.39 percent at 552.8 yen.
Electronic parts maker Murata Manufacturing fell 2.27 percent to 5,759 yen.

Sumber : AFP