Summary "It looks like it's going to be a good start to the week"
TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese stocks jumped more than two percent Tuesday morning as investors welcomed a weaker yen, boosting optimism for corporate earnings.
Starting the trading week after a national holiday on Monday, the Tokyo bourse was catching up with gains made in foreign markets, after Wall Street advanced on Friday and Monday as investors brightened their risk appetite.
"The biggest factor to move Japan s stock market is the currency right now," Toshihiko Matsuno, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities, told Bloomberg News.
"It looks like it s going to be a good start to the week."
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed 2.01 percent, or 336.98 points, to 17,061.79 by the break.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares gained 2.04 percent, or 27.38 points, to 1,372.43.
A weaker yen accelerated Tokyo s gain, with the dollar standing at 112.06 yen, firming from 111.94 yen in New York overnight and up from 111.55 yen late Friday.
Yen weakness can boost the earnings of Japanese exporters by making their products cheaper in overseas markets -- thus boosting sales -- as well as increasing the value of profits earned abroad when converted into the currency.
The euro was at $1.1244 and 125.99 yen, little changed from $1.1245 and 125.88 yen.
Carmakers and consumer electronics manufacturers led gains.
Toyota climbed 3.63 percent to 6,102, while Nissan surged 3.16 percent to 1,094.5.
Panasonic added 1.03 percent to 1,034.5 and Sony rose 0.44 percent to 2,949.
Nintendo, meanwhile, soared 8.18 percent to 16,515.0 after it attracted more than a million users to its first smartphone game app Miitomo, which was launched Thursday.
But troubled technology company Sharp gave up 2.9 percent amid reports that Taiwan s Hon Hai Precision was seeking to reduce the amount of its takeover proposal.
