Tokyo stocks rebounded Thursday, as investors snapped up shares sold after a three-day losing streak, and positive earnings from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. helped erase earlier losses in chip-related issues.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended up 117.90 points, or 0.31 percent, from Wednesday at 38,079.70. The broader Topix index finished 14.30 points, or 0.54 percent, higher at 2,677.45.

On the top-tier Prime Market, gainers were led by textile and apparel, air transportation, and insurance shares.

The U.S. dollar was capped in the lower 154 yen zone in Tokyo amid wariness that Japanese authorities may conduct a yen-buying intervention, after the finance ministers of the United States, Japan and South Korea agreed Wednesday to consult closely on foreign exchange market developments.

Stocks were initially dragged down by heavyweight chip-related companies which tracked losses by their U.S. counterparts overnight, but soon rebounded into positive territory, analysts said.

With the Nikkei shedding over 1,500 points in the previous three trading days, "a lot of people likely thought it is a good time to buy since it is this cheap," said Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory Co.

Semiconductor stocks got a boost after TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, posted its first quarterly profit growth in a year on strong artificial intelligence demand.

Buying in tech stocks was also spurred by rises in other Asian markets, which helped to improve sentiment, Suzuki said.

==Kyodo

© Kyodo News International, Inc., source Newswire