Tokyo stocks close up 0.49pc

TOKYO, May 20 (AFP): Tokyo stocks closed up 0.49 per cent Tuesday, as the weaker yen lifted exporter shares and after gains on Wall Street, with investors largely unfazed by the announcement of martial law in Thailand.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 68.81 points to finish at 14,075.25, while the Topix index of all first-section shares rose 0.29 per cent, or 3.31 points, to 1,153.38.
"Foreigner investors are bargain-buying names they consider to be oversold," said an equity trading director at a foreign brokerage. "But broader market action is largely subdued."
The Japanese market showed little reaction to the political unrest in Thailand -- a major investment market for Japanese firms -- as Tokyo said it had "grave concerns" about events in the Southeast Asian nation, hours after martial law was declared there.
In share trading, Internet giant Yahoo Japan surged after it cancelled plans to buy domestic telecom company eAccess from its parent SoftBank in a deal valued at about $3.2 billion.
The stock jumped nearly 15 per cent at one point in early trade before closing up 11.67 per cent at 459 yen.
Toshiba rose 1.27 percent to 397 yen after the Nikkei economic daily reported it would supply semiconductors to Google for a new smartphone.
Investors are keeping an eye on the start of a two-day Bank of Japan meeting, set to wrap up Wednesday, although few expect it to launch further monetary easing measures.
"The BoJ is not inclined to change or say anything at the moment, and doesn't really need to, since the dollar, while relatively weaker... is still firmly within a well-established 100 yen to 105 yen zone, which is OK with most exporters," Daisuke Uno, strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, told Dow Jones Newswires.
In currency markets, the dollar bought 101.54 yen, against 101.45 yen in New York Monday afternoon.