Tokyo stocks open higher on Wall St. gains, hopes for U.S. rate pause

Tokyo stocks opened higher Friday, inheriting positive momentum from Wall Street where the S&P 500 index turned bullish on renewed hopes for slowing U.S. interest rate hikes.

In the first 15 minutes of trading, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 388.50 points, or 1.23 percent, from Thursday to 32,029.77. The broader Topix index was up 20.48 points, or 0.93 percent, at 2,211.98.

Gainers included wholesale trade, pharmaceutical and insurance issues.

At 9 a.m., the U.S. dollar fetched 138.88-89 yen compared with 138.88-98 yen in New York and 139.72-74 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Thursday.

The eur...