The Tokyo Stock Exchange rose Thursday, May 9 in the morning, but lacked momentum while Wall Street ended the day before in disorganized order and new results from Japanese companies were expected later in the day, including those from Nissan. The flagship Nikkei index, which had fallen significantly the day before, regained 0.15% to 38,261.25 points around 01:25 GMT and the broader Topix index gained 0.42% to 2,717.85 points.
Mitsubishi Motors sentenced in the United States
Mitsubishi Motors fell around 5% after announcing on Thursday that it had been ordered by a court in Philadelphia (north-eastern United States) to pay one billion dollars in damages following a trial involving a traffic accident involving one of his vehicles in 2017 in Pennsylvania. The court ruled in favor of the family of the driver, seriously injured in the accident, who argued that safety equipment in his car, a Mitsubishi 3000 GT, was defective and caused the victim’s injuries, and that its manufacturer should therefore be held responsible. Mitsubishi Motors, which has disputed this version of events from the start, said it would appeal.
Calm on major currencies
The dollar/yen rate was almost stable, with one dollar worth 155.57 yen around 01:20 GMT compared to 155.53 yen on Wednesday at 21:00 GMT. The value of the Japanese currency was also almost unchanged against the euro, which traded for 167.15 yen. The euro was also trading for 1.0744 dollars, against 1.0748 dollars the day before.
Oil advanced slightly: around 01:10 GMT the barrel of American WTI gained 0.32% to 79.24 dollars and the barrel of Brent from the North Sea gained 0.23% to 87.77 dollars.
