TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Thursday, tracking gains on Wall Street after Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted at a moderate approach to hiking interest rates.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.03 percent or 271.20 points at 26,664.23 in early trade, while the broader Topix index rose 1.29 percent or 24.02 points to 1,883.96.
The dollar fetched 115.53 yen, nearly unchanged from 115.51 yen on Wednesday in New York.
The Federal Reserve chief repeated the need for increasing interest rates to ease inflation, as the US battles consumer prices that are climbing at the fastest pace in four decades, as well as soaring oil.
But at the same time, Powell said he favours raising the benchmark borrowing rate by a patient quarter-point at the central bank's meeting this month, although not entirely ruling out the possibility of more aggressive moves.
The Japanese market "is likely to rebound today", Okasan Online Securities said in a note. "Investors will likely be heartened by the fact that Powell's testimony to Congress ended with no major surprises," it said.
The brokerage added though that the ongoing crisis in Ukraine will continue to put a check on stocks in Tokyo.
Among major shares in Tokyo, Toyota was up 2.13 percent to 2,082 yen.
The world's top-selling automaker announced Thursday that it would halt operations at its only factory in Russia due to "supply chain disruptions" linked to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Honda also rallied, by 1.75 percent to 3,415 yen, after reports said the carmaker would suspend exports of cars and motorcycles to Russia.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group was down 0.49 percent at 5,240 yen, while Toshiba inched down 0.02 percent to 4,499 yen before rebounding into positive territory.
Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing edged up 0.18 percent to 63,370 yen.
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