Tokyo stocks rose moderately Wednesday morning as investors bought select blue chip issues following Wall Street's gains. The dollar was down against the Japanese yen and euro.
The benchmark Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues gained 41.28 points, or 0.36 percent, moving to 11,464.54 points at the end of morning trading. On Tuesday, the index lost 63.84 points, or 0.56 percent.
The dollar bought 102.44 yen on the Tokyo foreign exchange market at 11 a.m. Wednesday, down 0.17 yen from late Tuesday but above the 102.31 yen it bought in New York Tuesday.
Stock prices bounced back as investors bought technology blue chips, autos and bank issues, taking a cue from Wall Street's strength.
Semiconductor testing device maker Advantest Corp. advanced, as did technology issues Kyocera Corp., Pioneer Corp. and TDK Corp. Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. also gained ground, along with Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. and UFJ Holdings Inc.
U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday, buoyed by positive earnings reports from the financial sector and bullish corporate outlooks for 2005.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 70.79, or 0.67 percent, to 10,628.79. The technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index gained 18.13, or 0.87 percent, to 2,106.04.
In Tokyo late Wednesday morning, the broader TOPIX, or the index of all issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, added 3.99 points, or 0.35 percent, to 1,149.20 points. The TOPIX shed 5.09 points, or 0.44 percent, the day before.
In currencies, the dollar edged lower against the yen in Tokyo on mild selling by speculators to take profits following the U.S. currency's strength in New York Tuesday.
The euro rose to $1.3030 late Wednesday morning in Tokyo from $1.3009 late Tuesday. Against the Japanese currency, the euro slipped to 133.42 yen from 133.52 yen.
The yield on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond fell to 1.3550 percent, from Tuesday's finish of 1.3600 percent. Its price rose 0.05 to 100.39 points.