Tokyo stocks rise in early deals on weak yen

Tokyo stocks rose in early trade Thursday, shrugging off a fall on Wall Street as a weak yen buoyed exporters.

Investors were waiting for a US jobs report Friday, which is expected to help clarify the outlook for US interest rates and the direction of the yen.

The Japanese unit hovered close to a one-month low against the dollar, which changed hands at 103.22 yen on Thursday.

A weaker yen lifts Japanese exporters' profitability and tends to stoke buying of their shares.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which opened flat, rose 0.15 percent, or 25.40 points, to sit at 16,912.80 in opening deals, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares firmed 0.44 percent, or 5.88 points, to 1,335.42.

"The US economy is continuing to pace a gradual recovery," said Mitsushige Akino, a Tokyo-based executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management.

"Should the US jobs data set the tone for a September rate hike, it could shift the trading range for the yen to between 105 and 110 per dollar from the current range of 100 to 105 per dollar," he told Bloomberg News.

The yen has lost about 1.3 percent this week, as investors bet the Federal Reserve could move sooner rather than later on raising interest rates following hawkish remarks last week from the central bank's chief Janet Yellen.

The three major US indexes ended lower Wednesday as oil prices continued a 10 day slide on mounting US stockpiles, signalling more oversupply pain for the market.