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Tokyo stocks up 0.15% by break

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks rose 0.15% on Friday morning, following gains on Wall Street and data showing consumer prices rose in 2013 for the first time in five years.

Shares of tech giants Fujitsu and NEC skyrocketed after the pair released nine-month earnings Thursday while Toshiba's stock dropped on news that net profit dived nearly 30%.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index, which tumbled 2.45% on Thursday, added 22.30 points to 15,029.36 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares rose 0.53%, or 6.46 points, to 1,230.55.

Official figures published shortly before the market opened showed deflation-plagued Japan's consumer prices rose annually for the first time in five years in 2013.

US stocks climbed Thursday on the strength of a solid US fourth-quarter economic growth report and banner results from Facebook that raised hopes about other technology giants.

"There are risks of further fallout in emerging markets as the US Fed's tapering policy proceeds, but this can be seen as natural after several years of easy money," Tachibana Securities market analyst Kenichi Hirano told Dow Jones Newswires.

Global markets have been in turmoil over worries about a capital flight from emerging markets as traders move into the dollar after the Federal Reserve further scaled back its stimulus programme.

Fujitsu soared 9.96% to ¥563 after the sprawling IT conglomerate said Thursday it had swung back to profit in the three months to December thanks to a weaker yen and brisk sales in PCs and networking services for public and business customers.

NEC rocketed 12.96% to ¥305 on the sale of a mobile carrier unit, even as it fell into the red in the nine months to December, mainly because of restructuring costs and a drop in sales after it left the smartphone business.

Toshiba lost 6.85% to ¥435 as its nine-month net profit dropped 29.1% due to higher taxes, although healthy sales saw its operating profit rise.

Nintendo fell another 0.73% to ¥12 235 after tumbling 4.30% on Thursday as the struggling videogames giant said it would stick to its games console business despite slumping Wii U sales.

The dollar bought ¥102.70, from ¥102.71 in New York on Thursday.

On Wall Street, the Dow rose 0.70%, the S&P 500 gained 1.13% and the tech-rich Nasdaq jumped 1.77%.

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