TOKYO: Tokyo stocks rose 0.63 percent on Monday following advances on Wall Street last week, but market gains were limited by investor caution ahead of a US Federal Reserve policy meeting.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed 97.08 points to finish at 15,388.72, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.96 percent, or 11.96 points, at 1,254.28.
"Stocks came back quickly last week from the steep selloff that put the market into a correction, but investors remain cautious," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
"The Fed will be looked to for more insight on what to expect (going forward), but there is still ample room for the market to fall again," he told Dow Jones Newswires.
"I don't think we are out of the woods yet by any stretch."
The Fed's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is likely to decide to finally wind up its economic stimulus drive, known as quantitative easing, at its two-day meeting, which starts Tuesday.
Investors will focus on what the committee says about the next phase of its policy, including any hint at a change in a mid-2015 timeline to raise interest rates.
US stocks Friday capped a strong week on a high note as good earnings from Microsoft and others overshadowed a poor report from Amazon.
In Tokyo, shares in the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant jumped 16.51 percent to 395 yen on weekend reports that the utility is due to log a substantial annual profit.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) is likely to chalk up a group pre-tax profit of 130 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in the business year to March 2015 thanks partly to cost-cutting efforts and a decline in crude oil prices, Kyodo News and other reports said.
"The second straight year of profitability -- despite the lack of any nuclear power generation is impressive, and came against expectations," said an equity trading director at a European brokerage. "It also makes one wonder how much more fat TEPCO can cut."
Fujifilm rose 2.88 percent to 3,691.0 yen after saying it would buy a major stake in a US vaccine maker Kalon Biotherapeutics as the Japanese firm ramps up its supply of a promising drug in the fight against the deadly Ebola virus.
Automakers were mixed ahead of their latest financial results which will be published over the next couple of weeks.
Toyota rose 0.71 percent to 6,195.0 yen and Honda gained 0.25 percent to 3,330.5 yen.
Nissan edged 0.06 percent lower to 945.6 yen.
On forex markets, the dollar slipped to 107.92 yen from 108.14 yen in US trade Friday afternoon. (AFP)
