TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed 1.83 percent higher on Wednesday, after official data showed Japan's exports soared in May thanks to a weaker yen, while eyes are also on the conclusion of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 237.94 points to 13,245.22, while the Topix index of all first-section shares rose 1.86 percent, or 20.17 points, to 1,106.57.
The headline index firmed on selective dip-buying, while investors await the Fed's policy board meeting and chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks soon after, brokers said.
Markets have been speculating about when the Fed would start tapering off its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying programme, known as quantitative easing and which is credited with helping buoy global equities.
"There is a sense of hope that Bernanke won't disappoint the market," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities.
"Investors appear to be mostly betting the Fed won't cut back on its bond-buying for a while."
Japan's latest economic data showed the country's trade deficit widened last month as the weak yen pushed up import costs.
But exports jumped 10.1 percent from the same month a year earlier as the cheaper currency helped make Japanese exporters more competitive overseas.
The data comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe works to stimulate the economy with a big-spending growth plan dubbed "Abenomics".
"This export data shows Japanese companies are increasingly in better shape. Their profitability is also rising these days, meaning they are becoming more resilient to potential external shocks," Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan, told Dow Jones Newswires.
SoftBank's Tokyo-listed shares rose 4.20 percent to 5,460 yen after a rival bidder for Sprint Nextel dropped its takeover offer.
US satellite television provider Dish Network said it had cancelled plans to submit a revised bid for the US-based wireless carrier.
SoftBank has offered to pay about $21.6 billion for the company, in what could be one of the biggest foreign acquisitions by a Japanese firm.
In other trading, Toyota rose 1.21 percent to 5,870 yen, Sony slipped 1.03 percent to 2,015 yen, and Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest bank, gained 2.42 percent to 593 yen.
In currency markets, the dollar was at 95.11 yen in Tokyo, against 95.37 yen in New York late Tuesday. (AFP)
