Tokyo---Tokyo stocks rose 0.38 percent Wednesday morning after three days of losses, as a surprise jump in Japan's machinery orders boosted hopes for the world's number three economy.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 77.25 points at 20,173.55 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares climbed 0.29 percent, or 4.78 points, to 1,639.15.
Japanese machinery orders -- a leading indicator of capital spending -- unexpectedly rose 3.8 percent in April from the previous month, beating market expectations.
The government revised its assessment upward for the first time in four months, saying that orders are "picking up".
"The Japanese market has been a strong out-performer and to some degree, until the last few days, it's defied the correction we've seen in other markets," said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors.
"The Bank of Japan is still pumping cash at a record rate into the economy, the yen has more downside ahead of it, which is positive for exporters, and recent economic data has been quite good. The Japanese story remains pretty positive," he told Bloomberg News.
On Monday, Japan posted stronger-than-expected growth in the first quarter thanks to a pickup in capital spending.
The 1.0 percent expansion in January-March -- or 3.9 percent on an annualised basis -- was sharply up from an initial estimate of 0.6 percent growth.
In Tokyo share trading, some exporters benefited as the dollar rose to 124.53 yen from 124.31 yen in New York.
Toyota was up 0.47 percent to 8,254 yen, while Sony climbed 2.57 percent to 3,700 yen.
AFP
