Tokyo stocks climbed 1.25 percent Tuesday, boosted by a weaker yen and gains on Wall Street as last week's soft US jobs data tempered expectations for a US interest rate hike. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed 242.56 points to 19,640.54 while the Topix index of all first-section issues rose 1.14 percent, or 17.84 points, to 1,578.55.
"US stocks reacted positively to the possibility that easy monetary policy will continue," said Toshihiko Matsuno, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities.
Japanese stocks should mirror US equities, he told Bloomberg News. The US Labour Department said Friday the economy added just 126,000 jobs in March, half of what was expected and the weakest growth since December 2013.
While the data indicates a US slowdown, investors were cheered as it means the Fed will likely not announce any rate rise until later in the year.
"A delay in US interest rate hikes means extremely easy monetary conditions continue and this is being taken as a plus by the stock market," said Hajime Sakai, a portfolio manager at Mito Securities. "Investors were shifting toward an expected rate hike in June, but now we are seeing them rebuilding positions," he told Bloomberg News.
On Wall Street the Dow rose 0.66 percent, the S&P 500 also added 0.66 percent and the Nasdaq put on 0.62 percent.
A surge in petroleum-linked equities also provided support as oil prices rallied above $50 a barrel.
The dollar was at 119.56 yen in afternoon trade, compared with 119.52 yen in New York and well up from 119.05 yen in Tokyo earlier Monday.
A weaker yen is positive for Japanese exporters as it makes them more competitive abroad and increases profits when repatriated. Toyota rose 0.92 percent to 8,410.0 yen and Honda firmed 0.26 percent at 4,046.5 yen.
Olympus jumped 2.00 percent to 4,325.0 yen as the Nikkei business daily reported that it would boost marketing of medical equipment in China.
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