Tokyo stocks extended their gains in early afternoon trading on Thursday, with the benchmark Nikkei soaring over 2 percent, as exporter issues continued to rise on the yen's weakness against the U.S. dollar following Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida's remarks on monetary policy.
Uchida said in a speech earlier in the day it is hard to imagine a path of continuous rate hikes even if the central bank decides to end its negative interest rate policy, leading to the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average's rise of over 2.1 percent above 36,900 points.
The dollar was trading in the mid-148 yen range around 1:45 p.m. compared to 148.10 levels mid-morning.
