Tokyo stocks open higher following new highs on Wall St

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday, tracking fresh record highs on Wall Street as the yen remained weaker against the dollar.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.36 percent, or 81.23 points, to 22,892.31 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.28 percent, or 5.11 points, at 1,808.84.

"Investors continued to buy on the dip as sentiment has been buoyed by fresh highs in New York," said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities.

Wall Street stocks were propelled to new highs Friday as a better-than-expected US jobs report boosted the Dow and S&P 500 to fresh records.

The market is focusing on this week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which is widely expected to raise rates for the third time this year, Horiuchi said.

"Investors welcome the current range of foreign exchange rates," he told AFP, adding that the dollar may gain further against the yen "depending upon the FOMC meeting".

The dollar changed hands at 113.56 yen in early trade, compared with 113.46 yen in New York late Friday.

In Tokyo, major construction firm Obayashi dropped 5.77 percent to 1,402 yen after prosecutors launched a probe suspecting the company rigged a bid in connection with a Maglev train-related project.

Automakers gained ground as Toyota rose 0.29 percent to 7,038 yen, with Nissan up 0.27 percent at 1,088.5 yen.