TOKYO, Jan 27 ― Tokyo stocks opened higher today following modest declines on Wall Street as bargain-hunters moved in ahead of Japan's corporate earnings season.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.44 per cent or 124.23 points at 28,670.41 in early trade, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.46 per cent or 8.41 points to 1,856.41.

"Japanese shares are seen higher starting as slight declines in the US market failed to prompt traders to sell” Tokyo stocks, Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex, said in a commentary.

Investors are bargain-hunting individual shares ahead of corporate earnings reports due in coming weeks, analysts said.

Among major shares in Tokyo, Panasonic was up 2.91 per cent at ¥1,468, industrial robot firm Fanuc was up 2.74 per cent at ¥27,895, and Olympus was up 0.95 per cent at ¥2,018.5.

The dollar fetched ¥103.60 (RM4.04) in early Asian trade, against ¥103.61.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended down 0.1 per cent at 30,937.04 as traders trod water while tracking developments on the coronavirus pandemic and the latest US stimulus plan. ― AFP