Tokyo stocks open up 1.17%

TOKYO – Tokyo stocks opened 1.17 percent higher on Wednesday with investors heartened by higher US stocks and technology giant Apple’s robust earnings results.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange opened up 110.38 points at 9,578.42 following four consecutive sessions of losses.

Support for the index comes from easing concerns over Europe’s debt problems, a weaker yen and and Apple’s strong earnings results, said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equity division at SMBC Nikko Securities.

Solid Dutch and Italian debt auction results sent eurozone sovereign bond yields lower Tuesday.

“Market participants will watch the yen movement and Asian markets” after the opening, Nishi told Dow Jones Newswires.

The euro bought $1.3201 and 107.53 yen in early Asian trade, a shade higher than $1.3192 and 107.35 yen in New York late Tuesday. The dollar edged up to 81.46 yen from 81.36 yen.

Strong earnings reports from big companies lifted the blue-chip Dow Tuesday, while Apple weighed on the Nasdaq as investors nervously awaited the technology giant’s results, due after the market closed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.58 percent to finish the session at 13,001.56 while the tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 0.30 percent to 2,961.60.

Heavyweight Apple, the world’s biggest company by market value, reported it made a profit of $11.6 billion in the first three months of the year driven by record sales of iPhones and iPad tablet computers.

Apple’s net income for the quarter was nearly double that seen in the same three-month period a year earlier, when sales tallied $24.7 billion.