Tokyo: Stocks open 0.68% higher

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks opened 0.68 per cent higher on Thursday, backed by gains on Wall Street and a breather in the yen's rally.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 137.25 points to 20,183.61 at the start.

Tokyo stocks turned up after four days of losses, taking a positive lead from Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 1.3 per cent Wednesday as a broad-based rally led by technology and banking shares snapped a week of anaemic trade in US equity markets.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.20 per cent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.25 per cent.

The yen's rally, a negative for Japanese exporters, came to a halt Thursday.

The dollar fetched 122.96 yen in Tokyo Thursday morning, compared with 122.67 yen in New York Wednesday.

The dollar plunged into the 122-yen range from mid-124 yen levels in Tokyo afternoon trading Wednesday after the head of the Bank of Japan said a further slide in the yen was "unlikely".

The euro was US$1.1305 and 138.94 yen early Thursday against US$1.1324 and 138.92 yen in New York as investors were continuing to watch Greek debt talks.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Thursday that Greece and EU heavyweights Germany and France had agreed that last-ditch bailout talks must reach a "viable solution" as negotiations broke-up without a deal.

AFP