Tokyo Stocks Rise On Back Of Wall Street

Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday as rallies on Wall Street helped improve investor sentiment, but a stronger yen limited the gains.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.16 percent or 33.81 points at 21,642.73 in early trade while the broader Topix index was up 0.08 percent or 0.91 points at 1,615.30.

Japanese shares are seen receiving some support from the US, but "a higher yen (against the dollar) compared with the levels on Wednesday is weighing on the market," Monex said in a commentary.

The dollar fetched 110.85 yen in early Asian trade, little changed from 110.82 yen in New York on Thursday but lower than 111.55 yen in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The Tokyo market was closed on Thursday for a national holiday.

Japanese consumer prices for February rose a sluggish 0.7 percent in February from a year earlier, according to government data released 30 minutes before the opening bell, as the world's third-largest economy continues its years-long battle to stoke inflation.

The market shrugged off the latest reading, which was slightly higher than expectations of 0.4 percent inflation.

In individual trading Friday, electronics and chip-related shares were on positive territory.

Chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron rallied 5.47 percent to 1,660 yen and chip-testing machine maker Advantest jumped 5.10 percent to 2,553 yen, after the US tech sector enjoyed strong gains.

Panasonic was up 0.57 percent to 956.53 yen and Sharp advanced 1.45 percent to 1,251 yen. (AFP)