TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo stocks opened 0.43 per cent higher on Thursday after Wall Street shares edged to new records, with the dollar rising against the yen.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 65.37 points to 15,435.34 at the start.

Sentiment was buoyed after a strong private sector report raised hopes for improvement in US monthly jobs report due out Friday.

The Dow and S&P 500 edged to new records Wednesday ahead the official US jobs data for June, while the dollar went up.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.12 per cent to 16,976.24, while the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.07 per cent to 1,974.62. Both notched records for the second day in a row.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.02 per cent to 4,457.73.

Payrolls company ADP said the private sector added 281,000 jobs in June, surging higher from 179,000 in May. That came ahead of Thursday's Department of Labor report on job creation and unemployment nationwide in June.

The dollar was changing hands at 101.82 yen in early Tokyo trade on Thursday compared with 101.77 yen in New York Wednesday afternoon.

The euro bought US$1.3654 and 139.04 yen against US$1.3658 and 138.99 yen in US trade.