Tokyo stocks rose Wednesday, helped by Wall Street's gains overnight and the U.S. dollar's rise against the Japanese yen.
The benchmark Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues closed up 99.66 points, or 0.88 percent, at 11,376.57 points. The index lost 12.58 points, or 0.11 percent, on Tuesday.
The dollar bought 103.47 yen at 3 p.m. (0600 GMT) Wednesday, up 0.33 yen from late Tuesday but below the 104.13 yen it bought in New York later that day.
Japanese exporters, including Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Co., benefited Wednesday from the weakening yen. A stronger dollar helps boost the value of their overseas earnings.
Local technology stocks also rose on the back of gains by their U.S. counterparts overnight. Canon Inc., Sony Corp. and Advantest Corp. ended the session up.
The broader TOPIX, the index of all issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, rose 6.86 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,144.89 points. The TOPIX lost 1.15 points, or 0.10 percent, the day before.
In New York Tuesday, a string of strong earnings reports sent stocks sharply higher, with the Dow Jones industrial average turning in its best showing of the year.
The Dow Jones average rose 92.95 points, or 0.9 percent, to 10,461.56, posting its best one-day jump since Dec. 21. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed 11.25, or 0.56 percent, to 2,019.95.
In currencies, the dollar was up against the euro and yen after shooting up in New York overnight, although some of those gains against the yen were pared in Tokyo trading.
An announcement that China had surpassed the United States for the first time as Japan's biggest trade partner in 2004 did not appear to immediately affect the dollar's gains against the yen. Total trade with China and Hong Kong came to 22.2 trillion yen (US$213.28 billion; euro164.41 billion) in 2004 versus 20.48 trillion yen (US$196.75 billion; euro151.67 billion) with the United States, the Finance Ministry said.
"China's importance has been growing for some time, so this should be priced into the markets," said Toshiaki Kimura, foreign exchange trader at Mitsubishi Trust.
The euro fell to US$1.2988 Wednesday afternoon in Tokyo from US$1.3057 late Tuesday. Against the Japanese currency, the euro was also lower at 134.44 yen from 134.60 yen.
The yield on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond rose to 1.3350 percent from Tuesday's finish of 1.3300 percent. Its price fell 0.05 point to 100.56.