/www.fxserver.com/ TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese stocks opened higher Wednesday, boosted by encouraging earnings reports from U.S. technology companies overnight. The dollar was lower against the Japanese yen.
The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 issues was up 59.58 points, or 0.76 percent, to 7,898.41 at Wednesday's open. On Tuesday, the Nikkei rose 86.73 points, or 1.12 percent.
The dollar was trading at 120.40 yen at 9 a.m., down 0.06 yen from late Tuesday in Tokyo but above the 120.10 yen it bought in late New York trading.
Tokyo stocks were bolstered by first-quarter earnings reported by Intel, Microsoft and Texas Instruments Tuesday.
The tech bellwethers' better-than-expected results gave investors hope that an American economic recovery was underway, which would in turn help the Japanese economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 51.26, or 0.6 percent, at 8,402.36 Tuesday for a two-day advance of nearly 200 points. The Nasdaq composite index rose 6.06, or 0.4 percent, to 1,391.01 points.
Locally, the broader Tokyo Stock Price Index opened up 5.40 points, or 0.69 percent, at 793.64 points Wednesday. The TOPIX, which includes more than 1,000 of Japan's largest and most prestigious companies, gained 12.63 points, or 1.63 percent Tuesday.
In other currency trading, the euro bought $1.0796, up from $1.0746 late Tuesday. Against the yen, the euro traded at 129.98 yen, up from 129.46 yen.
The yield on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond slipped to 0.6550 percent from Tuesday's close of 0.6600 percent. Its price rose 0.04 to 100.41.