Japanese stocks rose on Thursday morning as the yen's strong trend paused and the country's strong trade data lifted sentiment, but mining shares underperformed on the back of a steep decline oil prices.

The Nikkei 225 share average rose 0.3 per cent to 18,484.46 in midmorning trade.

But gains were limited, and market participants said Japanese stocks are expected to trade in a fixed range throughout the day as mounting tensions between North Korea and the United States, along with political uncertainty in Europe ahead of the French presidential elections, keep investors cautious.

“Even though a technical rebound in the Tokyo market lifts stocks, the basic trend to avoid risks hasn't changed,” said Hiroyuki Nakai, chief strategist at Tokai Tokyo Research Center. "There is still so much uncertainty from global events.”

On Thursday, confidence was helped somewhat by data showing Japan's exports rose 12.0 per cent in March from a year earlier, marking the fourth straight month of gains due to strengthening global demand.

That compared with a 6.7 per cent rise expected by economists in a Reuters poll.

Book-to-bill ratio

Gainers included chip makers after Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan said that producers of flat-panel-display equipment posted 55.86 billion yen in orders in March and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.40, up 36.5 per cent from the previous month.

A book-to-bill ratio of 1.40 means that 140 yen worth of new orders was received for every 100 yen of product billed for the month.

Tokyo Electron Ltd rose 1.4 per cent, Advantest Corp jumped 4.5 per cent and Disco Corp gained 1.3 per cent.

However, mining stocks Inpex Corp and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co both dropped 1.2 per cent after oil fell to a two-week low on Wednesday, hit by a surprising build in US gasoline inventories and a rise in US crude output.

The broader Topix gained 0.5 per cent to 1,478.86 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 advanced 0.4 per cent to 13,230.78.

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