Tokyo stocks open higher as exporters rise on lower yen

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday despite lacklustre trading on Wall Street, as a lower yen boosted exporters.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.67% to 22 236.08 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.69% at 1 762.95.

"Japanese stocks are expected to rebound... as the yen has fallen into the upper half of the 108 range" against the dollar, Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

The dollar has climbed on rising US Treasury bond yields, a signal interest rates could be on the rise amid fresh confidence in the world's biggest economy.

Higher rates are seen as potentially dangerous to markets because they would make debt payments more expensive and could steer funds away from stocks and into bonds.

But a lower yen often supports the Japanese stock market as it improves outlooks of Japanese exporters.

The dollar was trading at ¥108.77, hardly changed from ¥108.72 in New York on Monday afternoon but sharply higher than the ¥107 range seen when the Tokyo market closed on Monday.

Toyota rose 1.19% to ¥7 053 and Honda gained 1.33% to ¥3 724.

Nippon Yusen climbed 1.88% to ¥2 375 and Mitsui OSK Lines was 1.67% higher at ¥2 372 as the Nikkei business daily reported major shipping firms' earnings are rallying on restructuring efforts and the global economic recovery.

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