Tokyo stocks open higher

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday, extending Wall Street gains after inflation fears that sparked wild volatility earlier this month receded.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 241.11 points to 22 394.74 in early trade while the broader Topix index was up 0.90% at 1 790.85.
"Following rallies in the European and US bourses, Japanese shares seem to be brisk" in Tuesday trading, Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

New US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell will speak before key congressional committees on Tuesday and on Thursday in his debut appearance.

Markets will pore over his comments for clues about plans for monetary policy - though many predict he will stick to the path of his predecessor Janet Yellen.

Ahead of Powell's speech later on Tuesday, "normally investors should step aside from active trading," Okasan said.

However, with the market already factoring in a faster-than-earlier-expected pace of rate hike as this year, the Fed boss's speech "may be over without making waves in the market," it added.

The yen traded at ¥107.01 in early Asian trade, up from ¥106.93 in New York late on Monday.

Turning to individual shares, game giant Nintendo rose 1.35% to ¥49 430, Sony advanced 1.35% to ¥9 172 and Panasonic gained 1.74% to ¥1 699.5.

Market heavyweight Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo casual clothes, was up 1.22% at ¥43 860.