Japanese shares climbed Friday morning as sentiment was lifted by a weaker yen against the euro and overnight rallies on Wall Street, according to dpa. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 26.99 points, or 0.31 per cent, to trade at 8,595.88 at the end of the morning session at 11:30 am (0230 GMT). The broader-based Topix index was up 2.22 points, or 0.31 per cent, at 727.88. Some export-linked stocks were up as the yen fell against the euro, standing at the lower-100-yen level to the European currency. A weaker yen makes Japanese goods less expensive overseas and improves repatriated earnings. Shares in Advantest Corp rose 1.28 per cent, Panasonic Corp climbed 0.71 per cent, Honda Motor Co gained 0.43 per cent and Nissan Motor Co edged up 0.13 per cent. Renesas Electronics Corp surged 3.80 per cent after the Nikkei business daily reported the embattled Japanese chipmaker would receive 100 billion yen (1.26 billion dollars) in financial support from three major shareholders and four lenders. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.24 per cent Thursday after a US government report showed that consumer prices fell 0.3 per cent last month, fueling investor hopes for more monetary stimulus measures from the central bank. In Tokyo, on currency markets at 11:30 am, the dollar traded at 79.22-26 yen, down from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 79.34-35 yen. The euro was quoted at 1.2629-2630 dollars, up from 1.2580-2581 dollars late Thursday, and at 100.08-10 yen, up from 99.81-85 yen.
