Tokyo stocks rose Tuesday before a series of holidays in Japan, with a weak yen boosting exporters while Donald Trump looked to ease tensions with North Korea. The US president said he would be ready to hold talks with Kim Jong-Un under the right conditions, dialling back earlier threats of military action against the regime in Pyongyang.

"With Trump seemingly open to talks in dealing with North Korea, the nervousness is abating," Norihiro Fujito, a Tokyo-based senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, told Bloomberg News. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.70 percent, or 135.18 points, to end the day at 19,445.70. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues climbed 0.68 percent, or 10.53 points, to close at 1,550.30.

On forex markets, the dollar strengthened to 111.91 yen from 111.44 yen in New York. A weaker yen is positive for Japanese shares as it increases the value of repatriated profits that firms earn overseas. Japanese financial markets will be closed from Wednesday through Friday for the annual Golden Week holiday. Toyota rose 1.67 percent to 6,143 yen as Nissan tacked on 1.12 percent to finish at 1,076.5 yen. Nintendo edged up 0.14 percent to 28,355 yen, while Sony slipped 0.51 percent to 3,853 yen. Banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ added 0.59 percent to close at 715.9 yen.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017