Tokyo stocks open higher after WHO ruling on virus
Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday after the World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus an international emergency but held off on recommending restrictions on movement of people.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.81 percent or 186.95 points to 23,164.70 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.62 percent or 10.33 points at 1,685.10.
Some investors bought back shares on the belief the crisis is bottoming out as the UN health agency's director gave its "stamp of approval to China's aggressive containment effort," Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp, said in a note.
The WHO move "eased some mushrooming fears by suggesting the number of outbreaks is relatively small," he said.
The dollar fetched 108.93 yen in early trade, unchanged from the level in New York late Thursday.
In Tokyo, some major exporters were higher with Sony rising 1.16 percent to 7,756 yen, Toyota gaining 0.60 percent to 7,680 yen, and chipmaking equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electrion advancing 1.15 percent to 24,230 yen.
Game giant Nintendo dropped 4.54 percent to 40,350 yen after its third- quarter operating profit released late Thursday was slightly lower than market expectations.
Japan's unemployment rate in December stood at 2.2 percent, unchanged from the previous month, according to data released by the internal affairs ministry before the opening bell.
Incidence of sexual assault in US military academies rose again last year, the Pentagon said Thursday, despite efforts to combat the problem.
During the 2018- 2019 school year, there were 149 sexual assaults officially reported to authorities at three military academies- where students prepare for futures as military officers- compared to 117 during the previous school year, marking an increase of more than 25 percent, the Pentagon said in a report.
This year's count only covered sexual assault cases reported to authorities, which the Pentagon says makes it difficult to determine if the rise in cases is due to better reporting or if sexual assaults did indeed occur more frequently than the year before.
Every two years, the nearly 13,000 students at the three schoolsthe army's US Military Academy at West Point, New York, the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado- are also able to fill out anonymous questionnaires about sexual assaults that were not reported to authorities, including cases of sexual harassment or unwanted sexual contact.
This report did not include results from the questionnaires.
West Point counted the most student cases, with 57 sexual assaults reported, and the Naval Academy counted the fewest reports at 33. There were 40 cases of sexual assault reported at the Air Force Academy. The rest of the reports came from non- student cases.
"This report is a reflection of what we already know," said retired Colonel Don Christensen, former Air Force prosecutor and head of the organization Protect Our Defenders. "The Pentagon has repeatedly failed to address the sexual assault crisis gripping its ranks and, as a result, the problem continues to grow."
"Year after year, military leadership has lauded a focus on prevention despite zero evidence that preventative measures are working. In fact, the opposite is true," he said.
Christensen called out the Pentagon's lack of "military justice reform" in not putting sexual assault cases "in the hands of professionals."
"Their continued obstruction of reform has led to a dramatic increase in sexual assaults and harassment, not only affecting those who bravely serve in our military, but its next generation of leaders as well," he said.