Tokyo stocks up at break

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks climbed on Tuesday morning following record closes on Wall Street and as a weaker yen lifted exporters.

US markets scored strong gains on Monday, with the Dow and S&P 500 finishing at records and the tech-heavy Nasdaq surging 1.4 percent.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.10 percent, or 219.92 points, to 20,287.67 by the break, while the Topix index of first-section issues was up 0.98 percent, or 15.80 points, at 1,621.87.

"The environment is good as the dollar has risen into the mid-111 yen range while US stocks were higher," Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

The dollar climbed after upbeat commentary from influential New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley, who reaffirmed the Fed's plan to continue to increase interest rates in expectation of higher inflation.

"We've seen some unimpressive economic data recently but Dudley appears unperturbed by them, providing relief for market participants," Toshihiko Matsuno, a senior strategist at SMBC Friend Securities, told Bloomberg News.

The greenback was trading at 111.68 yen on Tuesday, up from 111.54 yen in New York Monday afternoon and 111.05 yen in Tokyo earlier.

Exporters were higher as a lower yen brightens their profit outlook.

Toyota gained 0.67 percent to 5,826 yen and electronics giant Panasonic rose 1.96 percent to 1,508 yen.

Uniqlo clothing chain operator Fast Retailing, a heavyweight in the Nikkei, rose 1.93 percent to 37,330 yen.

The stock of troubled airbag maker Takata looked set to dive nearly 20 percent to 324 yen after a plunge of 16.5 percent on Monday due to bankruptcy fears.

The shares were untraded with buy orders swamped by the number of sell orders placed at the day's allowable bottom price.

Sony, which rose to multi-year highs Monday on hopes for robust earnings in the years to come, slipped 0.02 percent to 4,289 yen.

Sharp jumped 4.10 percent to 406 yen on news that the once debt-ridden consumer electronics firm will apply for a return to the prestigious first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Sharp has been rehabilitating itself since it was demoted to the second section last year while being acquired by Taiwan's Foxconn.