TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei share average rose more than 2 per cent on Thursday, led by export-oriented stocks, as the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar despite a bumper interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
The Nikkei was up 2.1 per cent at 37,133.34, as of 00:08 GMT, while the broader Topix was up 1.9 per cent to 2,614,09.
The dollar edged higher in choppy trading after the Fed cut rates by half a percentage point, citing greater confidence that inflation will continue to recede to the U.S. central bank's 2 per cent annual target.
Uniqlo brand owner Fast Retailing rose to give the biggest boost to the Nikkei. Technology start-up investor SoftBank Group rose 1.4 per cent.
All of the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry sub-indexes were trading higher, led by the automakers' index, rising 3.9 per cent.
Toyota Motor jumped 4.9 per cent.