Tokyo - Tokyo stocks surged nearly 8 per cent Wednesday, on the back of Wall Street's overnight rally and the dollar's advance against the yen, sending the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average above 8,000.

The Nikkei rose 589.98 points, or 7.74 per cent, to end at 8,211.9.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was up 46.29 points, or 5.9 per cent, at 830.32.

The Tokyo market sentiment was buoyed also by speculations that the Bank of Japan is considering an interest-rate cut to help stabilize the market.

Japan's central bank was scheduled to hold its policy board meeting Friday to discuss its key short-term interest rate, which is currently set at 0.5 per cent.

On currency markets at midday (0300 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 97.27-32 yen, up from Tuesday's 5 pm quote of 94.54-56 yen.

The euro was quoted at 1.2717-22 dollars, up from Tuesday's 5 pm quote of 1.2476-78 dollars, and at 123.70-80 yen, up from 117.95-99 yen. (dpa)