Tokyo stocks inch higher on bargain-hunting

Tokyo stocks edged up at the close Tuesday as bargain-hunting purchases wiped out earlier losses caused by worries over US-China trade frictions.

After a session spent mainly in the red, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.02 percent or 3.85 points to 22,342.00, while the broader Topix index was up 0.16 percent or 2.80 points at 1,731.07.

Tokyo stocks had opened lower after global stocks sold off sharply on Monday with investors fretting about a ballooning trade war amid reports President Donald Trump plans new curbs on Chinese investment in the United States.

Later Tuesday, "bargain-hunting purchases were surpassing", partly helped by a stable dollar-yen exchange rate, said Okasan Online Securities' strategist Yoshihiro Ito.

The dollar was trading at 109.58 yen against 109.77 yen in New York Monday afternoon.

Utilities were higher, with Tokyo Electric gaining 2.16 percent to 520 yen and Chubu Electric rallying 2.33 percent to 1,686 yen.

Nippon Yusen closed up 1.32 percent at 2,218 yen after reports said one of Japan's royal family members will get engaged to an employee of the company, while its rival Mitsui O.S.K. Lines rose 2.38 percent to 2,705 yen.

Fujifilm fell 0.66 percent to 4,194 yen after Xerox's new chief executive said it was preparing to sell products directly in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Japanese firm sued Xerox, seeking more than $1 billion in damages for scrapping a takeover bid but Xerox denounced the action as "nothing more than a desperate and misguided negotiating ploy to save their takeover attempt".

SoftBank dropped 2.45 percent to 7,997 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported the group is seeking to list its mobile unit on the Tokyo bourse as early as this year.