TOKYO: Tokyo stocks rose 1.14 percent Friday morning after overnight gains on US and European markets amid expectations that Europe will act to prop up banks weakened by the sovereign debt crisis.
The Nikkei index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 96.94 points to 8,618.96 by the lunch break. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues gained 8.49 points or 1.15 percent to 745.35.
The European Central Bank Thursday announced new measures to provide cash-strapped banks with liquidity.
Markets cheered the news the ECB would beef up "non-standard" action to help out lenders as the European Commission called for coordinated action to recapitalise banks and Germany said it should be done without delay.
"With moves to inject capital into European banks, there are signs of a brighter outlook for progress, although full resolution is still far off," Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at SMBC Nikko Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Toshiyuki Kanayama, a senior market analyst at Monex, said: "Selling by foreign investors may be coming to a halt on the back of some progress in the European debt issue."
But he said investors were likely to be cautious in the afternoon ahead of the release of closely-watched US jobs data later Friday.
Sony tumbled 3.33 percent to 1,424 yen after a Wall Street Journal report that it was nearing a deal to buy out Swedish telecom firm Ericsson's stake in their mobile phone joint venture in a push to enhance its smartphone business.
"Sony had not been able to carve out its presence globally (in smartphones) with Ericsson," said Okasan Securities strategist Hideyuki Ishiguro.
"Even if it gets full control of the venture, the competitive landscape of the smartphone industry already seems mapped out," he said.
Softbank jumped 4.20 percent to 2,403 and KDDI rose 2.14 percent to 572,000 yen, with the two mobile operators beginning accepting pre-order reservations for an updated model of Apple's iPhone from Friday afternoon.
On Thursday the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 183.38 points (1.68 percent) to 11,123.33 following sharp rises in Europe.
The euro bought $1.3419 and 102.93 yen in Tokyo morning trade, slightly down from $1.3433 and 103.03 yen late Thursday in New York where the common European currency rose on greater confidence on the eurozone.
The dollar bought 76.71 yen, almost unchanged from New York.
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