Tokyo stocks rise for third straight session

Tokyo stocks rose for a third straight session on Tuesday as the yen remained cheaper against the dollar, with worries over a US-China trade war receding.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.44 percent or 100.01 points to close at 22,697.36, while the broader Topix index was up 0.87 percent or 14.98 points at 1,745.05.

"The weak yen fuelled expectations of better corporate earnings," Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities, told AFP.

The dollar traded at 112.40 yen in Asian afternoon trade, up from 112.30 yen in New York late Monday.

The Tokyo market was closed on Monday for a national holiday.

"Expectations are that there may be continued calming of US-China trade friction this week," said Tsuyoshi Nomaguchi, strategist at Daiwa Securities.

With the cheaper yen, the Nikkei this week "may try an upper limit," he added.

Investors are watching US industrial output due later on Tuesday and public hearings for US President Donald Trump's plan to impose punitive levies on imported cars, Nomaguchi noted.

Investors were also focusing a testimony by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.

In Tokyo, some blue-chip exporters were higher, with game giant Nintendo trading up 2.49 percent at 37,390 yen, Panasonic 1.08 percent higher at 1,443 yen and Sony up 0.46 percent at 6,006 yen.

Toyota jumped 1.30 percent to 7,373 yen with Nissan up 0.82 percent at 1,037 yen.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.2 percent, but the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3 percent.