By DPA,
Tokyo : Japanese stocks rose in Thursday morning trading, supported by overnight gains on the US and European markets amid hopes for the global economic recovery.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 27.52 points, or 0.26 percent, to trade at 10,429.42 while the broader Topix index was up 1.45 points, or 0.16 percent, at 924.09.
Exporters such as the precision machinery and electronics sectors climbed although the yen was still moving around the lower 82-yen range to the dollar. A stronger yen makes Japanese goods more expensive abroad and hurts overseas earnings when the revenues are repatriated.
Japanese exports jumped 13 percent in December from a year earlier to 6.11 trillion yen ($74.3 billion), the government said before the market opened.
Japanese imports climbed 10.6 percent to 5.39 trillion yen, leaving the country’s trade surplus at 727.7 billion yen, up 34.1 percent from a year earlier.
On currency markets at 9 a.m. (0000 GMT), the dollar traded at 82.17-18 yen, little changed from Wednesday’s 5 pm quote of 82.14-15 yen.
The euro traded at 1.3710-3711 dollars, up from $1.3671-3672 Tuesday, and at 112.64-70 yen, up from 112.30-34 yen.