Tokyo stocks rose sharply Thursday morning, with the Nikkei index briefly climbing 2 percent, as investors scooped up shares that had been battered a day earlier while technology issues tracked their U.S. counterparts higher.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 649.97 points, or 1.65 percent, from Wednesday to 40,101.82. The broader Topix index was up 39.63 points, or 1.46 percent, at 2,746.14.
The U.S. dollar moved narrowly in the upper 151 yen range as traders remained cautious about a possible yen-buying intervention by Japanese authorities if the dollar rises toward around the 152 yen line, a level at which they intervened in 2022.
At noon, the dollar fetched 151.71-72 yen compared with 151.65-75 yen in New York and 151.67-69 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The euro was quoted at $1.0841-0845 and 164.47-54 yen against $1.0831-0841 and 164.30-40 yen in New York and $1.0770-0771 and 163.35-39 yen in Tokyo late Wednesday afternoon.
The Nikkei index recovered the 40,000 mark, after ending at a three-week low the previous day, following in the wake of the U.S. Nasdaq index's rise overnight. Although paring some gains after advancing 2 percent, the market's downside remained solid.
"Investors took advantage of the drop in the previous session to buy, boosting many companies such as semiconductor issues," said Shingo Ide, chief equity strategist at the NLI Research Institute.
Machinery makers operating in China such as Fanuc also advanced on continued hopes for a recovery in the world's second-largest economy after the release Sunday of a stronger-than-expected manufacturing index for March, Ide added
