Tokyo stocks up 0.20% by break

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index edged higher Monday morning, shrugging off losses on Wall Street and a pick-up in the yen against the dollar.

The benchmark Nikkei at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which on Friday ended above 19,000 points for the first time in 15 years, added 0.20 percent, or 37.70 points, to 19,291.95 by the break.

The broader Topix index of all first section shares was flat, dipping 0.16 points to 1,560.17.

Tokyo moved in and out of negative territory in the morning session after New York dropped on renewed concerns over falling oil prices and the impact of a stronger dollar on US firms.

Investors are now keeping their focus on the outcome of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week, hoping it will give a clearer timeline for when it will lift interest rates as the US economy picks up strength.

"We're seeing some technical overbuying," said Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities.

"US stocks are looking weak, and we'll probably see some adjustments today (in Tokyo)."

Investors are also keeping an eye on the start of a BoJ meeting, which wraps up Tuesday, although few expect Japanese policymakers to announce fresh measures until later this year.

"According to standard expectations there will probably be no major BoJ actions, but as they tend to move when you're least expecting it, it's difficult to tell," Hirakawa told Bloomberg News.

In forex trading, the dollar, which has been soaring on expectations of a mid-year US rate hike, slipped back to 121.35 yen from 121.44 yen.

Japan's central bank surprised markets in October when it expanded its already huge asset-buying plan in a bid to kickstart the world's number three economy.

In Tokyo share trading, Japan's biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ rose 0.82 percent to 796.0 yen, factory robotics maker Fanuc slipped 0.58 percent to 26,715.0 yen, Toyota edged down 0.08 percent to 8,250.0 yen and Sony tumbled 3.40 percent to 3,113.5 yen.

On Friday, the Dow fell 0.82 percent, the S&P 500 dropped 0.61 percent, while the Nasdaq declined 0.44 percent.

bur-pb/dan