Japan Stocks Rise on U.S. Gains

Stocks in Japan traded higher Thursday, fueled by strength in the U.S. overnight and extending yesterday's gains that put the Topix index into positive territory for the year.

The Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.6%, still down 2.5% for the year so far. But the Topix, a measure of the largest firms trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 0.9% Thursday and up 0.6% year-to-date.

"The Nikkei's average price-to-earnings value stands at around 15.22 times against 16 times for the Topix and around 17 times for U.S. shares, " says SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi. "With continued dollar support, the exporter-heavy Nikkei could very well see more buying to bring it more in line with its peers."

The gains came despite the dollar weakening--it was last at Yen106.78 from Yen106.85 late Wednesday in New York.

In the U.S., shares rebounded after two days of losses, helped by technology stocks including Apple Inc. The sector has been a focus for Asian investors this week, as stocks of Apple's suppliers have reacted to the launch of the firm's new products.

Australia's S&P ASX 200 was roughly flat.

Bradford Frischkorn contributed to this article.

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