TOKYO, Nov 2 — Tokyo stocks opened higher today as investors factored in the rout last week in New York and shifted attention to the US presidential election and other market-moving events.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.61 per cent or 139.86 points at 23,116.99 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 1.04 per cent or 16.37 points to 1,595.70.

"Japanese shares are starting with gains as investors factored in falls in US shares,” Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex, said in a commentary.

Investors are waiting to see the results of the US presidential election tomorrow, analysts said.

"Covid-19 infections and (the) prospect of new lockdowns is another theme that will keep investors preoccupied,” Rodrigo Catril, senior strategist of National Australia Bank, added in a commentary, also noting the US Fed and BoE meetings this week and US non-farm payrolls due out on Friday.

The dollar fetched ¥104.56 (RM4.15) in early Asian trade, against 104.67 yen in New York.

In Tokyo, Japan Airlines was up 2.09 per cent at ¥1,855 after it said it had forecast an annual net loss of more than US$2.3 billion (RM9.5 billion) after the coronavirus pandemic grounded air travel around the world.

Toyota was up 2.31 per cent at ¥6,960 after a report said the automaker will boost output to record levels in the November-January period in response to robust demand in China and the US.

Sony was up 0.91 per cent at ¥8,753 after a report said the company was in talks to acquire US animation distributor Crunchyroll from AT&T.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended down 0.6 per cent at 26,501.60, the broader S&P closed down 1.2 per cent and the tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 2.5 per cent. — AFP