Nikkei rebounds on PM Ishiba's dovish rate comments

Japan's Nikkei share average rebounded sharply in early trade on Thursday, buoyed by a softer yen after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that the country was not ready for further interest rate hikes.

The Nikkei gained 2.6% to 38,781.26, as of 0007 GMT, while the broader Topix was up 2.05%.

Ishiba said Japan is not in an environment for an additional rate increase, in an apparent effort to shake off his reputation as a monetary hawk, after a meeting with Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda on Wednesday.

The yen was last hovering around 146.56 per dollar on Thursday, after strengthening to as high as 141.65 on Monday, as markets initially digested Ishiba's win in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election last Friday.

The yen and Japanese stocks typically move in opposite directions, since a stronger currency hurts exporters' competitiveness when repatriating revenue.

Technology shares rose, tracking their U.S. peers gains' on Wall Street overnight.