Tokyo shares rise after Wall Street rallies

Tokyo stocks marked three straight winning sessions on Monday, extending strong rallies on Wall Street, where the weakening economic outlook moderated expectations for central bank monetary tightening.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.43 per cent, or 379.30 points, at 26,871.27, while the broader Topix index added 1.11 per cent, or 20.70 points, at 1,887.42.

The dollar stood at 134.95 yen, off slightly from 135.17 yen in New York late Friday.

Fresh, weak US data fuelled speculation that inflation might have peaked or was nearing it.

It encouraged views that the US Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes could become slower than expected and brightened market sentiment, analysts said.

Wall Street showed off powerful rallies, with the Dow rising 2.7 per cent on Friday while Nasdaq surged 3.3 per cent.

"The Tokyo market followed suit" and enjoyed robust gains, Okasan Online Securities said in a note.

Still, some investors have voiced worries about a possible recession with weak consumer confidence amid inflation in the US.

However, Rakuten Securities senior strategist Masayuki Kubota shrugged off recession worries, saying it "most likely" will not happen, while US and Japanese share prices have now fallen far enough for bargain-hunting purchases to dominate.

Among major shares, Sony Group rose 2.27 per cent to 11,505 yen. SoftBank Group rose 3.71 per cent to 5,418 yen. Uniqlo-operator Fast Retailing rose 1.49 per cent to 71,490 yen.

Advantest, a major producer of semiconductor test kits, surged 3.79 per cent to 7,670 yen.

Nintendo advanced 0.93 per cent to 58,380 yen.

Energy developer Inpex added 3.74 per cent to 1,496 yen.