Japanese shares rise on Wall Street gain

Japanese shares rose Thursday, lifted by an overnight gain on Wall Street and Sony Corp.'s upbeat earnings.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed 133.19 points, or 0.9 percent, to 14,251.74, marking its fourth consecutive gain.

"The market was supported by positive factors both at home and abroad. One good external factor was the U.S. stock performance yesterday," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.51 percent Wednesday to 12,898.38 after a better-than-expected report on U.S. consumer prices eased some of the market's concerns about inflation.

Apart from the U.S. factor, sentiment turned upbeat in Tokyo due to Sony's swing to a profit in the January-March quarter compared with a loss in the same period a year ago.

Sony said Wednesday its fourth-quarter result helped lift it to a record profit of 369.4 billion yen ($3.5 billion yen) for its fiscal year ended March 31.

"Investors were heartened by Sony's strong earnings results, prompting buying across the board," Takahashi said.

Sony rose 8.7 percent to close at 5,270 yen.

Shares in NEC Electronics jumped 14 percent to 2,475 yen. As the market closed, the chips maker's parent computer and network equipment maker said its profit for the fiscal year through March more than doubled on year.

Shares in the parent, NEC Corp., rose 5 percent to 551 yen.

Meanwhile, Japan's top automaker Toyota Motor Corp., rose 1.9 percent to 5,380 yen and Nissan Motor Co. gained 2.3 percent to 982 yen.

The Topix index of all the Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section added 19.83 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,392.87.

In currency trading, the dollar was quoted at 104.90 yen midafternoon in Tokyo, compared with 105.06 yen in New York late Wednesday. The euro stood at $1.5490, up from $1.5464 late Wednesday in New York.