TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed 0.79 percent higher Monday, driven largely by bargain-hunting while the yen held steady against the dollar, brokers said.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended 108.02 points higher at 13,758.13, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares gained 0.57 percent, or 6.48 points, to 1,149.13.
"Some players tried to buy on dips, chasing shares which fell on Friday," said Kenzaburo Suwa, strategist with Okasan Securities.
On Friday the Nikkei index lost 0.75 percent, tracking a tumble on Wall Street stoked by disappointing corporate earnings results.
"The stability in foreign exchange rates is not a bad factor for Japanese stocks," Suwa added.
A weak yen is good for Japanese exporters as it makes their products more competitive abroad while swelling their repatriated income.
On currency markets, the dollar was at 97.60 yen against 97.53 yen in New York Friday.
Stock market trading was thin as dealers return to work after last week's national holiday in Japan.
"There should be an increase in participation levels from this week, as the seasonal Obon holiday has now ended, but there is still a dearth of trading cues and this will hamper movement," said SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi.
The Tokyo market see-sawed for much of last week, with many dealers out of action during the Buddhist holiday.
On Monday investors largely ignored data showing Japan's trade deficit almost doubled to 1.024 trillion yen in July from the previous year, as the weaker yen sent the country's energy import bill soaring.
US equity markets on Friday ended one of their worst weeks of 2013, tumbling on the back of uninspiring economic data and troubling earnings reports from Walmart and other retailers.
In Tokyo trade Monday, Toyota closed up 0.47 percent at 6,320 yen, while Sony gained 0.61 percent to 1,975 yen.
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal fell 0.67 percent to 296 yen following news reports that it is ready to pay wartime compensation to conscripted South Korean workers if it loses a long-running legal battle.
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