TOKYO: Tokyo stocks gained 0.18 percent Wednesday morning, led by exporters after Europe and the United States extended their rallies and the yen held steady.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 15.45 points to 8,625.40 by the break, after opening flat.
The broader Topix index of all first-section issues added 3.66 points or 0.49 percent to 752.21.
The Nikkei index lacked direction as investors avoided making big bets before confirming further developments in the Greek debt saga, said Shigeo Sugawara, senior investment manager at Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Asset Management.
"The market wants actions, results, not just speculations that something might or might not happen," he said.
He noted that Germany's vote on the eurozone rescue fund on Thursday represents the key event to watch this week.
On Tuesday US equities registered a second straight day of solid gains following rises in Europe, as traders took a more optimistic view of the eurozone debt crisis.
Hopes that progress was being made came as Greek lawmakers passed the deeply unpopular property tax aimed at shoring up government revenues to help plug the deficit. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou held talks in Berlin.
In Tokyo several high-profile exporters outperformed. Sony was up 1.42 percent at 1,496 yen and was Olympus up 1.21 percent at 2,419 yen.
Japan Tobacco ended the morning down 0.40 percent at 365,500 yen after jumping 8.0 percent Tuesday to its highest level since October 2008, on expectations that the government would sell its entire stake in the former tobacco monopoly.
Ruling Democratic Party of Japan policy chief Seiji Maehara said late Tuesday the government should aim to sell all of its shares in JT and some of its equity holdings in energy-related companies to boost non-tax revenue.
Oil and gas producer Inpex rose 0.73 percent to 481,000 yen and Japan Petroleum Exploration was up 0.67 percent at 2,842 yen.
The euro fetched 103.90 yen in Tokyo midday trade, compared with 104.43 in New York late Tuesday. The euro also edged down to $1.3571 from $1.3590.
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