Tokyo stocks bounced back Thursday morning, buoyed by Wall Street's overnight strength. The U.S. dollar was down against the yen but up versus the euro.
The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues rose 45.40 points, or 0.18 percent, to 11,611.28 points at the end of morning trade. The index fell 33.94 points, or 0.29 percent, Wednesday.
The dollar was trading at 107.10 yen at 11 a.m. (0200 GMT), down 0.17 yen from late Wednesday in Tokyo and also below the 107.51 yen it bought in New York later that day.
Stock gains were led by technology blue chips and select shares related to domestic economy, but many investors later stepped off to the sidelines ahead of the release Friday of Japanese central bank's business sentiment report and U.S. employment data.
Advantest Corp. and Tokyo Electron Co. were among gainers Thursday morning.
U.S. stocks ended higher Wednesday on modest growth in the fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product -- an annual rate of 3.8 percent -- and a drop in oil prices. After the U.S. Energy Department reported a 5.4 million barrel increase to the nation's crude oil reserves, light, sweet crude futures fell to US$53.99 per barrel, down 24 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 135.23, or 1.3 percent, to 10,540.93. The Nasdaq composite index gained 31.79, or 1.61 percent, to 2,005.67.
In Tokyo Thursday morning, the broader TOPIX, which includes all issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, added 5.65 points, or 0.48 percent, to 1,174.75 points. the TOPIX shed 6.51 points, or 0.55 percent, the day before.
The euro fell to US$1.2921 from US$1.2966 late Wednesday and to 138.46 yen from 139.10 yen.
The yield on Japan's benchmark 10-year government fell to 1.3200 percent from Wednesday's finish of 1.3500 percent. Its price rose 0.27 point to 101.58.