Tokyo stocks inched up Wednesday morning following Wall Street's strength. The dollar was down against the Japanese yen and the euro.
The benchmark Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues added 42.69 points or 0.37 percent, to end morning trade at 11,427.09 points. The index fell 3.19 points, or 0.03 percent, on Tuesday.
The dollar was trading at 103.66 yen at 11 a.m. Wednesday, down 0.30 yen from late Tuesday in Tokyo and nearly flat from the 103.67 yen it bought in New York later that day.
Stocks rose moderately as investors picked up technology and exporter blue chips following Wall Street's gains Tuesday on strong earnings and lower oil prices.
Electronics Fujitsu Ltd., Kyocera Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. gained, as did automakers Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 62, or 0.59 percent, at 10,551.94. The Nasdaq composite index added 6.29, or 0.31 percent, to 2,068.70.
Crude-oil futures for March delivery dropped $1.08 to settle at $47.12 a barrel Tuesday as expectations of rising crude inventories prompted buyers to liquidate positions established during Monday's upswing.
Trading in Tokyo was range-bound as most players remained on the sidelines ahead of a series of key events, including more earnings reports from Japanese companies later in the day, the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meeting later Wednesday and a Group of Seven finance ministers' meeting beginning Friday.
The broader TOPIX, the index of all issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, rose 5.45 points, or 0.48 percent, to 1,151.94 points Wednesday morning. The TOPIX gained 0.35 point, or 0.03 percent, the day before.
In currency trading, the dollar was little changed from its overnight levels against the yen and the euro as investors remained on the sidelines ahead of the weekend Group of Seven meeting in London.
The euro rose to $1.3071 Wednesday morning in Tokyo from $1.3030 late Tuesday. The euro was up against the Japanese yen at 135.42 yen from 134.44 yen.
The yield on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond fell to 1.2850 percent from Tuesday's finish of 1.2950 percent. Its price rose 0.09 to 101.00 points.