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| - Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday as investors took heart from rallies on Wall Street and a cheaper yen against the dollar. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.19 percent, or 259.17 points, at 21,969.17 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 1.04 percent, or 15.62 points, to 1,511.68. "Japanese shares are seen rallying, following gains in US stocks" led by high-tech shares on robust IT-sector earnings, senior market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama of Monex, said in a note. A cheaper yen against the dollar is also supporting exporters, analysts said. Investors are also watching purchasing manager indexes for China and the US, due separately later in the day, as well as comments by US Fed speakers, said Rodrigo Catril, senior strategist at National Australia Bank. The dollar fetched 105.83 yen in early Asian trade, against 105.88 yen in New York and 104.28 yen in Tokyo late Friday. In Tokyo, Seven & i Holdings dropped 7.39 percent to 2,969 yen after the Japanese supermarket and convenience store chain operator said it had agreed to buy Marathon Petroleum's Speedway gas stations for $21 billion, in a bid to expand operations in the US. Elsewhere, Toyota was trading up 1.42 percent at 6,305 yen, Sony was up 2.24 percent at 8,257 yen, and Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing was up 1.68 percent at 56,990 yen. On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.4 percent at 26,428.32 while the broader S&P 500 closed up 0.8 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rallied to end 1.5 percent higher. kh/sah/amj
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