Tokyo shares rebound after dipping on virus fears

Tokyo shares rebounded into positive territory in late morning trade on Tuesday, after opening sharply down following a global rout on fears over the coronavirus pandemic.

The Nikkei 225 index dipped as much as 3.66 percent at one point in early trade, before recovering to 17,180.90, up 1.05 percent or 178.86 points, about 70 minutes after the opening bell.

The broader Topix index was up 1.37 percent or 16.93 points at 1,253.27, after dropping as much as 2.99 percent.

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"Japanese shares are now cheap compared with their dividends," Rakuten Securities chief strategist Masayuki Kubota said in a note.

The dollar fetched 106.84 yen in Asian trade, against 105.92 yen in New York late Monday.

In Tokyo, Sony was up 5.20 percent at 5,926 yen, game giant Nintendo was up 5.52 percent at 34,770 yen, and Toyota was up 2.24 percent at 6,074 yen.

On Wall Street, the Dow plummeted 12.9 percent to close at 20,188.52.