Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened higher Monday on Wall Street rises before the weekend and the US dollar's advance against the yen.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 232.98 points, or 1.84 per cent, to 12,899.02.
The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 23.77 points, or 1.95 per cent, at 1,240.19.
On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 109.91-96 yen, up from Friday's 5 pm quote of 109.10-11 yen. A stronger dollar makes Japanese products cheaper overseas.
Tokyo - Japan's trade surplus in July shrank 86.6 per cent to 91.1 billion yen (829 million dollars) compared with July 2007, as China overtook the United States as the country's biggest export market, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
The nation's exports rose 8.1 per cent to 7.63 trillion yen, and imports rose 18.2 per cent to a record 7.54 trillion yen, as high oil prices drove up the price of energy imports, shrinking Japan's trade surplus for the fifth month in a row.
The trade surplus with the rest of Asia jumped 42.3 per cent. Exports to Asia rose 12.7 per cent to a new peak of 3.86 trillion yen, and imports also went up 5.7 per cent to a record 2.93 trillion yen.
Tokyo - A monkey stopped pedestrians in their tracks at Tokyo's busy Shibuya train station Wednesday, becoming a rare photo opportunity for nearly 50 passersby.
Tokyo - Tokyo stocks extended losses Wednesday after overnight declines in the US market.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 36.51 points in morning trading, or 0.28 per cent, to close at 12,828.54.
The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 6.31 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 1,229.23.
The Tokyo market was seeing second day of losses mainly in financial and export-oriented issues after the indices tumbled more than 2 per cent Tuesday on renewed worries about the global credit crunch and the weakening economy in the United States, Japan's largest export market.