Tokyo stocks up at break

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks rose Wednesday morning, supported by positive economic data in leading global economies and confidence following a host of strong earnings results.

With investor sentiment picking up after three days of losses, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.47 percent, or 93.42 points, to 20,048.62 by the break.

The Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.25 percent, or 4.05 points, at 1,621.12.

The Munich-based Ifo institute said Tuesday that confidence among German business leaders hit an all-time high in July while a US survey showed consumer sentiment recovered to near record levels this month.

"The rise in Germany's business confidence index as well as US consumer confidence is cause for relief among investors," Mitsuo Shimizu, deputy general manager at Japan Asia Securities, told Bloomberg News.

US stocks rose following strong earnings from Caterpillar, McDonald's and others.

Caterpillar's upward revision to its earnings forecasts will be a plus for Japanese construction machinery makers, said Shimizu of Japan Asia Securities.

Hitachi Construction Machinery jumped 3.38 percent to 3,055 yen while Komatsu rose 2.84 percent to 2,984.5 yen.

Japanese companies also reported strong corporate earnings, with Mitsubishi Motors jumping 5.86 percent to 830 yen on an earnings recovery as it moved on from a mileage-cheating scandal that hammered sales.

The automaker said after Tuesday's market close that it swung back into net profit for the three months to June, while operating profit soared more than fourfold from a year earlier.

Nissan, which will report quarterly results on Thursday, rose 1.23 percent to 1,144 yen.

Nintendo, which reports earnings later Wednesday, gained 1.64 percent to 35,880 yen.

The dollar changed hands at 111.90 yen on Wednesday against 111.93 yen in New York on Tuesday afternoon as investors awaited a statement from the US central bank later in the day after a policy meeting.