Dollar rises to around ¥107.40 in Tokyo trading

Lifted by higher stock prices, the dollar rose to around ¥107.40 in Tokyo trading Tuesday before shedding gains.

At 5 p. m., the dollar stood at ¥107.15-16, up from ¥106.84-84 at the same time Monday. The euro was at $1.0979-0979, up from $1.0972-0972, and at ¥117.65-65, up from ¥117.23-24.

After rising overnight above ¥107.40 in overseas trading on renewed expectations for progress in U.S.-China trade talks starting Thursday, the dollar eased to close to ¥107.20 in early Tokyo trading.

But investors bought back the dollar against the yen in view of the Nikkei 225 average's steep rebound at the opening and solid moves later.

In later afternoon trading, the dollar dropped from around ¥107.40 to levels below ¥107.20 on selling sparked by a harsh Chinese reaction to fresh U. S. sanctions against Chinese firms on alleged human rights abuse in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, traders said.

Meanwhile, Tokyo stocks staged a steep rebound Tuesday in response to a weakening of the yen weakening and a rise in Chinese equities.

The Nikkei 225 average rose 212.53 points, or 0.99 percent, to end at 21,587.78 after falling 34.95 points Monday.

The Topix, which covers all issues listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, was up 13.75 points, or 0.87 percent, at 1,586.50. It inched down 0.15 point Monday.

Stocks catapulted right after the opening bell despite a Wall Street setback Monday, propelled by futureslinked buying prompted by the yen's drop against the dollar on the back of a rise in U.S. long-term interest rates.

Brisk performance of Hong Kong and Shanghai shares also helped the Nikkei gain around 250 points in the morning, brokers said.

In the afternoon, however, the market went sideways amid a dearth of fresh trading incentives.

"The afternoon top-heaviness can be attributed to a halt in Chinese market advance," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co.

"Investors refrained from active trading to see U.S. stock moves later on Tuesday," he added.

Tomoaki Fujii, head of the investment research division at Akatsuki Securities Inc., pointed out that the TSE was underpinned by expectations for progress to be made in the upcoming negotiations between the United States and China toward settling their trade war.

"There was no negative news" on Tuesday concerning the trade talks starting in Washington on Thursday, he said.

Rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,711 to 372 on the first section, while 70 issues were unchanged.

Volume grew to 1.113 billion shares from 921 million shares Monday.

Automaker Toyota, construction machinery producer Komatsu attracted purchases along with other export-oriented names thanks to the weaker yen.

Financials rose on higher U.S. longterm interest rates. Major gainers included mega-bank group Mitsubishi UFJ and insurer Dai-ichi Life.

Among other winners were clothing store chain Fast Retailing and technology investor SoftBank Group.

By contrast, convenience store operator Lawson met with profit-taking.

Trader Itochu extended its losing streak to a fifth session.

Investors also discarded technology giant Sony and scandal-tainted Kansai Electric.