Tokyo stocks opened higher on Thursday extending rallies on Wall Street as the Federal Reserve again stressed it would maintain its highly accommodative policy of near-zero rates and asset purchases.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.35 percent or 77.78 points at 22,474.89 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 0.31 percent or 4.84 points to 1,553.88.
"Japanese shares are seen supported by rallies on Wall Street" after the US central bank stressed it would keep its loose monetary policy, Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex, said in a commentary.
The resurgence in coronavirus cases in recent weeks is weighing on US economic activity, and a recovery will depend both on checking the virus and on government aid, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said.
The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) held the benchmark lending rate at zero as expected.
"Investors liked what they heard from Chair Powell," Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at AxiCorp, said in a note.
"For me, the Fed's view can be summed up in the response Powell gave to a question about the need for additional fiscal and monetary support," he said.
"The political message to Congress came through loud and clear, as Powell said those people would struggle to pay their bills or even remain in their homes."
The dollar fetched 105.03 yen in early Asian trade, against 104.93 yen in New York.
In Tokyo, some exporters were higher, with Toyota trading up 0.75 percent at 6,481 yen, Canon up 1.28 percent at 1,820.5 yen and game giant Nintendo up 0.42 percent 47,470 yen.
ANA Holdings was up 0.72 percent at 2,239.5 yen despite its announcement it saw a record quarterly loss worth one billion dollars as the coronavirus continues to hammer the global aviation industry.
In New York, the Dow ended up 0.6 percent at 26,539.57.