TOKYO: Tokyo's benchmark index rose Wednesday morning after gains on Wall Street and as Japan's top central banker said he saw no problem with a drop in the yen that has revved up equity markets.
European stock markets also churned higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged ever closer to the 20,000-point milestone, unfazed by deadly attacks in Turkey and Germany.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was up 0.15 percent, or 28.27 points, at 19,522.80 by the lunch break while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues was flat, edging down 0.01 points to sit at 1,552.35.
"With the DJIA nearing the 20,000 mark, overseas market conditions remain favourable for local equities," said Shinichi Yamamoto, a senior strategist at Okasan Securities in Tokyo.
"(Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko) Kuroda also provided relief for markets in regard to the BoJ's monetary policy stance by indicating he's fine with the recent weakness in the yen," he told Bloomberg News.
After the central bank's last policy meeting of the year, Kuroda said Tuesday that the yen's level was "not surprising", noting it brought the rate back to where it was earlier this year, before Brexit.
The yen's slide -- a plus for Japanese exporters' profitability -- is supporting stocks and lifting hopes for stronger growth in the economy.
The unit has plunged on the dollar since Donald Trump's US election win last month sparked expectations of higher US interest rates.
On Wednesday, the greenback was trading at 117.70 yen, compared with 117.83 yen in New York Tuesday.
In New York, the Dow finished at a fresh record of 19,974.62, up 0.5 percent. The index got to within 13 points of the 20,000 landmark early in the session, before retreating a little.
Paris, London and Frankfurt pulled off moderate gains at the close, a day after fatal attacks that dominated the news headlines.
Twelve people were killed and dozens more injured when a truck ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market in what German Chancellor Angela Merkel described as a likely "terrorist" attack.
The deadly rampage closely followed the assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey in Ankara by a Turkish policeman, and a gun attack on a mosque in the Swiss city of Zurich, in which three were injured.
"The market response to each new terror event is less and less pronounced," said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets.
The move in European stocks "confirms ever-thickening investor skin," he added.
In Tokyo trading on Wednesday, automakers were higher with Nissan jumping 3.50 percent to 1,210 yen and Toyota rising 0.49 percent to sit at 7,166 yen.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group climbed 0.48 percent to 752.6 yen while brokerage Nomura was flat at 726.3 yen after losing early gains.
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