Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday as investors took heart from strong US retail sector reports and worries eased over inflation.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.40 percent, or 114.52 points, at 28,983.43 in early trade, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.46 percent, or 9.10 points, to 1,991.06.
Overnight, US equities finished the day mixed after bouncing around for most of the session, with investors digesting solid retail company earnings but disappointing housing data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 percent and the broad-based S&P 500 ended up 0.2 percent while the tech-rich Nasdaq retreated 0.2 percent after recovering from the low point of the day.—AFP