Tokyo: Stocks open 0.53% higher

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks opened 0.53 per cent higher on Tuesday, backed by the dollar's rebound against the yen and continued record-setting advances on Wall Street.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 88.96 points to 16,869.49 at the start.

US stock markets soared to fresh records Monday for the fourth straight session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke its all-time closing record, gaining 0.23 per cent to 17,613.74.

Currency rates hardly moved immediately after Japanese data showed the nation posted a surplus in the current account for the third straight month in September.

The dollar was at 114.80 yen early Tuesday, almost flat from 114.83 yen in New York Monday afternoon but up from 114.16 yen in Tokyo earlier Monday.

"Global economic data are not necessarily encouraging for equity investors, but regional monetary policies are, especially with the prevailing low interest rate scenarios, which may have created a somewhat overbought environment," said Daiwa Securities senior strategist Tsuyoshi Nomaguchi.

"Still, pertinent to Japan, with the Government Pension Investment Fund set to dramatically improve its domestic stock exposure, the latent demand could be enough to drive the market consistently higher though the end of the year," he said.

The Nikkei will perhaps climb to the 18,000 mark, he told Dow Jones Newswires.

Japan's US$1.26-trillion public pension fund - the world's biggest - said last month it would double the amount of equities in its investment portfolio, as it seeks higher returns to cope with a rapidly ageing population.

AFP