Tokyo - The Tokyo market opened higher Friday, briefly sending the key Nikkei 225 Stock Average above 9,000 after an overnight surge on Wall Street. The Nikkei index was up 47.45 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 8,963.51 after peaking at 9,068.8 at during morning trading.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues gained 3.66 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 845.47.

Exporters were helped by a weaker yen, which boosts earnings of Japanese firms.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar traded at 100.61-66 yen, up from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 100.14-15 yen.

The euro traded at 1.3120-25 dollars, down from late Thursday's quote of 1.3312-15 dollars, and at 132.04-09 yen, down from 133.32-36 yen. (dpa)