By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average surged to a record high on Tuesday, playing catch-up with Wall Street’s recent two-day rally after a public holiday in the Asian nation.
Investor sentiment was further lifted by a sharply weaker yen than when Tokyo last closed on Friday, as a softer currency increases the value of overseas earnings for Japan’s export-heavy corporations.
Japanese investors, like global peers, mostly appeared unfazed by the U.S. Justice Department’s criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The Nikkei jumped 3.6% to a record 53,814.79 within the first 10 minutes of trade.
The broader Topix rose as much as 2.4% to as high as 3,599.31, also a record peak.
Overnight, the Dow and S&P 500 both climbed to all-time peaks, with tech shares among the outperformers.
Standouts in early trading in the Nikkei included Toyota Motor, which advanced 5%, and chip-testing equipment maker Advantest, with a nearly 6% jump.
(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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