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Tokyo shares closed marginally higher on Thursday ahead of the release of key US economic data later in the day.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which opened lower trailing falls on Wall Street, edged up 0.09% to end at 21 540.99, while the broader Topix index rose 0.14% to 1 567.35.
"Tokyo shares opened lower following overnight falls on Wall Street, but the losses gradually shrank thanks to the yen, which weakened," Okasan Online Securities said in a note.
The dollar stood at ¥109.25, rising from ¥108.77 in New York.
Investors are awaiting key US economic data, including ISM's nationwide manufacturing index, which will be announced later in the day, and Friday's employment data.
In the morning session, Tokyo players took cues from the New York market, where investors pushed down shares after hearing Fed chairperson Jerome Powell's cautious position about future rate cuts.
Automakers were gainers with Toyota rising 0.96% to ¥7 092 and Honda 0.44% to ¥2 722.5.
Takeda Pharmaceutical soared 7.40% to ¥3 904 a day after forecasting net losses for the year ending in March 2020 would shrink thanks to the growth of its blood cancer treatment.
SoftBank Group rose 1.15% to ¥5 693, while Sony fell 0.76% to ¥6 123.
Panasonic dropped 1.49% to ¥910.9.
