<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Tokyo shares opened higher Tuesday as investors monitored the yen's relative strength ahead of corporate earnings season, which starts later this month.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The benchmark Nikkei index rose 0.37 percent, or 121.09 points, to 32,512.35, while the broader Topix index added 0.38 percent, or 8.49 points, to 2,247.59.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The positive start came as the Tokyo market returned from a national holiday and attempted to catch up with New York shares, which advanced Monday with the Nasdaq rising 0.9 percent.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The market is focused on the next meeting of the Federal Reserve to see whether the US central bank would stop its rate hikes in the future as speculated.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The market is also monitoring the yen's relative strength against the dollar, online brokerage Monex said in a note.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The Tokyo market is expected to remain cautious with the dollar-yen rate moving in the 138-yen range," it said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The dollar stood at 138.71 yen, nearly flat from 138.70 yen in New York but lower from 140.74 yen seen in Tokyo a week ago.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The US rate hikes and the Bank of Japan's easy money programmes have made the yen-denominated assets less attractive and have driven down the value of the yen.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The yen's weakness also often weighs on the Tokyo market as it makes Japanese exports relatively less competitive overseas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Still, hopes are high for further improvement of Japanese corporate earnings as businesses regain normality after the end of strict Covid rules.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Domestic demand is recovering, thanks partly to the return of international tourists, Rakuten Securities said in a note.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Our view is that Tokyo shares will continue their upswing unless the US economy takes a hard-landing and experiences a rapid slowdown," the brokerage</div><div style="text-align: justify;">said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among major shares, Toyota rose 1.15 percent to 2,243.5 yen. SoftBank Group added 0.35 percent to 6,979 yen.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sony Group rose 1.90 percent to 13,115 yen after X-Box producer Microsoft said it will keep releasing the popular "Call of Duty" game series on the PlayStation console.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Semiconductor-related shares also increased.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tokyo Electron, which makes tools to produce chips, jumped 2.58 percent to 20,710 yen. Advantest, which makes tests for semiconductors, rose 2.46 percent to 22,255 yen. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>