Tokyo stocks open 0.20% higher

Tokyo stocks rose 0.20 percent at the open on Tuesday, tracing Wall Street gains on signs of progress in negotiations to prevent the US economy from going over the "fiscal cliff". The benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed 19.99 points to 9,848.87 at the start of trade. "Stocks stand to be supported Tuesday -- there should be some follow-through buying after Monday's post-election rally," Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at kabu.com, told Dow Jones Newswires, noting supporting dollar and euro levels. The greenback and the single European unit soared after the conservative opposition swept to victory in national polls on Sunday as former premier Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party ousted Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Democratic Party of Japan. Abe campaigned in part on a platform of promoting further monetary easing to pump up the Japanese economy. In earlier Tokyo forex trading, the dollar stayed flat at 83.88 yen in New York on Monday. The euro edged up to $1.3164 and 110.43 yen, compared with $1.3161 and 110.40 yen in US trade. US stocks rose overnight over Wall Street hopes of a political compromise to avoid the looming "fiscal cliff". President Barack Obama hosted top Republican lawmaker John Boehner in the White House Monday in what appeared to be the latest effort to avert going over the so-called fiscal cliff, a mix of steep tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect in January if Washington fails to reach a deal. Economists say going over the "cliff" could drag the world's biggest economy back into recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the session up 100.38 points (0.76 percent) at 13,235.39.