Tokyo - Toyota and Sony led healthy gains in Tokyo on Wednesday morning as the Nikkei stock index rebounded after six days of losses, following a rally on Wall Street and European bourses.
Exporters were the big gainers as the yen sharply weakened, a plus for their profitability, while a better-than forecast trade reading out of China also provided some much-needed support after a torrid start to 2016.
"It's a relief," Chihiro Ohta, general manager of investment information at SMBC Nikko Securities, told Bloomberg News.
"We've fallen six days in a row, and we're seeing signals flashing that Japanese stocks are falling too quickly. We're at a level where we can expect a technical rebound."
By the break, the Nikkei 225 index jumped 463.37 points to 17 682.33, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares rose 39.44 points to 1 441.39.
On Tuesday, stabilisation in China's markets, including a firming of the yuan currency, sparked buying both in Europe and on Wall Street, after the worst ever opening week for a new year.
The Dow closed up 0.72% while the S&P 500 advanced 0.78 and the Nasdaq surged 1.03%.
Oil prices rallied on Wednesday, a day after falling below $30 in New York for the first time since December 2003.
On currency markets, the dollar rebounded to ¥118.25 from ¥117.66 in New York.
That lifted Toyota, which soared 3.58% to ¥6 997 while Sony jumped 3.81% to ¥2 777. Uniqlo-operator Fast Retailing, a market heavyweight, rose 2.55% to ¥38 590.