Japan's Nikkei share average edged up on Wednesday afternoon, erasing earlier losses after the dollar hit another six-year high against the yen, which lifted exporters such as Honda Motor Co and Panasonic Corp.

The Nikkei added 0.2 percent to 15,785.29 in afternoon trade, moving close to its seven-month high of 15,829.38 hit last week.

Traders said investors bought futures and chased the cash market higher when the dollar broke a psychological resistance level of 106.50 yen and climbed as high as 106.56 in the afternoon.

A trader at a foreign brokerage said the yen was pushing through an important technical level that was giving investors more confidence.

“The weakness in the yen has not been reflected in the Nikkei. The Nikkei has underperformed where it would normally be expected to go given this weakening of yen against the dollar,’’ the trader added.

Exporters were higher, with Honda rising 0.9 per cent and Panasonic advancing 0.7 per cent. Other market participants pointed to speculation that pension funds might be buying Topix funds as the Topix has outperformed the Nikkei. Both the broader Topix and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 gained 0.5 per cent.

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