Tokyo stocks advanced moderately Wednesday morning as investors were cheered by year-end highs on Wall Street. The dollar was up against the yen.
The Nikkei was up 47.74 points, or 0.42 percent, to 11,471.87 points at the end of morning trading. On Tuesday, it gained 61.78 points, or 0.54 percent, closing at a five-month high.
The dollar bought 103.32 yen at 11 a.m. Wednesday, up 0.26 yen from late Tuesday in Tokyo and above the 103.03 yen it bought in New York later that day.
Against the euro, the dollar was trading at $1.3586, down from $1.3618 late Tuesday.
The stock market resumed its rally Wednesday after sentiment was buoyed by New York's rally, bolstered by a report showing a sharp rise in U.S. consumer confidence.
In Tokyo late Wednesday, the index of all issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section added 3.85 points, or 0.34 percent, at 1,144.04 points. On Tuesday, the TOPIX rose 5.58 points, or 0.49 percent.
Banks Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc., Mizuho Financial Group Inc., and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. rose, as did telecoms NTT Corp. and KDDI Inc. Technology issues Kyocera Corp. and Canon Inc. also gained ground.
Wall Street's major indexes reached new multiyear highs Tuesday.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 78.41, or 0.73 percent, to 10,854.54 -- its best close since June 13, 2001. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 22.97, or 1.07 percent, to 2,177.19, its best showing since June 8, 2001.
In other currencies, traders said some Japanese importers bought the American currency to settle accounts by the year's end in light trading as many manufacturing firms have already entered a year-end holiday.
The euro fell to 140.22 yen, from 140.35 yen late Tuesday in Tokyo.
The yield on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond rose to 1.4350 percent, from 1.4250 percent late Tuesday. Its price fell 0.09 point to 100.56.