Japan stocks rebound as yen eases

Japanese shares rose nearly 1 per cent Thursday as export-oriented issues were lifted by the receding yen against the euro, according to dpa. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 85.58 points, or 0.99 per cent, to 8,701.23 while the broader-based Topix index was up 8.23 points, or 1.09 per cent, at 762.30. In morning trading, the Nikkei dropped nearly 1 per cent following overnight losses on Wall Street and European markets, as export-oriented issues were also hurt by the yen's rise against the euro. But exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp, Canon Inc and Sony Corp rebounded in the afternoon as the yen receded against the euro, to close almost unchanged from Wednesday's exchange rate. Toyota rose 0.9 per cent, Canon jumped 1.57 per cent and Sony was up 0.8 per cent. On currency markets at 3 pm, the dollar traded at 76.53-54 yen, up from Wednesday's 5 pm quote of 76.42-43 yen. The euro traded at 1.3619-3620 dollars, down from 1.3638-3639 dollars Wednesday, and at 104.22-25 yen, flat from 104.22-24 yen.