Tokyo stocks open higher on cheaper yen

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened higher on Thursday, extending rallies in New York as the yen remained lower against the dollar.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.77%, or 175.55 points, at 23 023.77 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.53%, or 9.30 points, at 1 748.90.

The dollar fetched ¥111.68 in early Asian trade, unchanged from the level in New York but higher than ¥111.16 in Tokyo on Wednesday.

"A cheaper yen may prompt purchases of exporters," SBI securities said in a commentary.

US President Donald Trump joined Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in signalling that talks to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement were headed in the right direction.

Rising optimism on the success of North American trade talks brought further joy to Wall Street on Wednesday, driving the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to close at new records for the fourth straight session.

The benchmark Dow closed up 0.2% at 26 124.57.

Strong US GDP data also buoyed US stocks and the greenback.

In Tokyo, Sony was up 1.19% at ¥6 367 and chip-testing device manufacturer Advantest was up 1.45% at ¥2 658.

Rohm, a maker of chips and other electronic parts, rose 2.03% to ¥10 030.

Oil-linked shares were also higher reflecting rallies in crude prices, with oil developer Inpex gaining 1.90% to ¥1 231 and oil refiner and wholesaler JXTG was up 1.58% at ¥873.5.