TOKYO: Tokyo stocks cast off early losses to rise 0.50 percent on Wednesday morning, as a weaker yen overshadowed a sharp fall on Wall Street.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 92.44 points at 18,757.55 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares climbed 0.23 percent, or 3.55 points, to 1,528.30.
Tokyo opened in negative territory after US shares slumped on renewed worries about higher interest rates and the soaring dollar.
The Dow fell 1.85 percent, the S&P 500 lost 1.70 percent and the Nasdaq sank 1.67 percent.
The dollar has pushed to multi-year highs on rising speculation that the Federal Reserve will raise near-zero rates more quickly than previously anticipated after Friday s strong US jobs report.
It rose to 121.35 yen Wednesday from 121.07 yen in US trade after hitting a near eight-year high above 122 yen earlier Tuesday in Asia.
The greenback s ascent against the yen is generally positive for Japanese exporters as it makes them more competitive overseas and inflates the value of their repatriated profits.
The Japanese market has also been winning support from an inflow of cash from the country s public pension fund — the world s biggest — as it shifts more of its bond-heavy portfolio into stocks.
