TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday, extending rallies on Wall Street, with investors shifting their focus to key US jobs data later in the day.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.24 percent or 342.41 points at 28,020.62 in early trade, while the broader Topix index firmed 1.24 percent or 23.96 points to 1,963.58.
Wall Street stocks rallied in a buoyant session propelled by relief at a congressional agreement that removed the near-term risk of a US debt default.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 34,754.94, up one percent.
Tokyo stocks open higher as US default worries ebb
"Japanese shares are starting with gains following US rallies," senior market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama of Monex said in a note, adding that investors "tend to take a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the US jobs data", which is due later in the day.
The dollar fetched 111.65 yen in early Asian trade, against 111.63 yen in New York late Thursday.
Among major shares in Tokyo, Canon rallied 4.25 percent to 2,738 yen after a US investment bank revised up its evaluation of the firm's shares.
Honda was up 1.74 percent at 3,390 yen after rating agency S&P revised up its outlook of the shares to "stable," while its bigger rival Toyota climbed 3.40 percent to 1,932.5 yen.
Convenience store operator Lawson was down 2.03 percent at 5,310 yen after it reported a second quarter operating profit of 16.1 billion yen ($140 million), slightly lower than market expectations of 16.9 billion yen.
Japan's household spending was down 3.0 percent year-on-year in August as spending on food and transportation declined during the country's virus state of emergency, according to data released by the internal affairs ministry before the opening bell.
Japan lifted the state of emergency on October 1.
The spending data did not prompt strong market reactions.