Tokyo stocks were posting modest gains on Friday, led by blue-chip Japanese exporters that stand to benefit from a stronger dollar. The dollar was higher against the Japanese yen and euro.
The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues had risen 45.77 points, or 0.39 percent, to 11,791.74 points at midday. The index added 6.85 points, or 0.06 percent, on Thursday.
The broader TOPIX, which includes all issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, advanced 5.12 points, or 0.43 percent, to 1,193.56 points. The TOPIX lost 5.41 points, or 0.45 percent, the day before.
The dollar was trading at 106.42 yen at 11 a.m. Friday, up 0.01 yen from late Thursday in Tokyo and above the 106.35 yen it bought in New York later that day.
The Nikkei edged higher as traders reacted to the dollar's recent rebound against the yen by buying select blue-chip technology and other export-related issues.
The dollar's rise against the yen raises the value of Japanese exporters' overseas earnings when converted to the Japanese currency.
Traders noted that stocks in Tokyo would probably stay range-bound with U.S. stocks closed for the Good Friday holiday and an unclear outlook on Wall Street.
In New York on Thursday, a late-session sell-off kept stocks narrowly mixed as cautious investors took what little profits they could from a disappointing week marked by an interest rate hike and inflation concerns. All three major indexes saw their third straight week of losses.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13.15, or 0.13 percent, to 10,442.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 1.11, or 0.09 percent, at 1,171.42. But the Nasdaq composite index climbed 0.84 point to 1,991.06 as investors returned to the heavily oversold technology sector.
After oil prices dropped 4 percent earlier in the week, crude oil staged a recovery Thursday. A barrel of light crude settled at $54.84, up $1.03, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other currencies, the euro fell to $1.2940 midday Friday in Tokyo from $1.3013 late on Thursday, and slid to 137.74 yen from 138.41 yen.