Tokyo shares up 1.08pc after Wall Street rallies

TOKYO: Tokyo shares were 1.08 percent higher in mid-morning trade Wednesday, following strong rallies on Wall Street and stronger-than-expected Japanese industrial output data.

The headline Nikkei-225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange had added 104.20 points to 9,753.18 shortly after 0100 GMT.

Robust gains in US shares across the board overnight encouraged investors, amid optimism that Greece would move toward avoiding a default.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.21 percent to close at 12,188.69.

The broader S&P 500 jumped 1.29 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.53 percent.

"The market has shaken off the pessimistic mood starting from last week," Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager of investment strategy and research at Daiwa Securities told Dow Jones Newswires.

"So we're watching to see if this trend will continue," he said.

Investors welcomed reports that progress was being made in talks to prevent a Greek default, in part by rolling over a large portion of Greece's debt into 30-year bonds.

Despite street protests by unions in Athens, global investors stayed hopeful that Greece will eventually accept unpopular austerity measures.

The Tokyo bourse was also lifted by the stronger-than-expected 5.7-percent increase in Japanese production for May, signalling economic recovery following the March 11 disasters that plunged the nation into its worst post-war crisis.

A relatively weak yen also helped investors, analysts said.

In early Tokyo trade, the Japanese currency stood at 81.00 to the dollar, compared with 81.08 yen in New York Tuesday.

The euro bought $1.4351 dollars and 116.27 yen, easing slightly from $1.4367 and 116.47.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011