TOKYO: Tokyo stocks rallied on Thursday morning after four days of losses, with the benchmark index adding 1.44 percent following a strong lead from Wall Street.
The Nikkei 225 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 288.80 points to 20,335.16 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares climbed 1.38 percent, or 22.41 points, to 1,650.64.
The three main indexes in New York enjoyed one of their best days for weeks thanks to a surge in banks and technology stocks as well as optimism over the Greek debt crisis.
Dealers welcomed news Wednesday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande would meet with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the sidelines of an EU-Latin America summit, encouraging hopes for a deal extending Greece’s bailout funding.
The Dow jumped 1.33 percent, the S&P 500 rose 1.20 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.25 percent.
Later in the day the three European leaders said they had agreed to work harder for a deal that will unlock billions of euros much needed by Athens to service its debts and avert a default that could see it tumble out of the eurozone.
In forex trade Thursday, the dollar fetched 123.05 yen, up from 122.67 yen in New York Wednesday, giving a boost to Japanese exporters.
