Tokyo stocks surged nearly 8 percent 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 the 8,000-mark. The Nikkei rose 589.98 points, or 7.74 percent, to close at 8,211.9. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was up 46.29 points, or 5.9 percent, 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 stabilise 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 percent. On currency markets at midday, the dollar was quoted at 97.27-32 yen, up from Tuesday's 5 p.m. quote of 94.54-56 yen. The euro was quoted at $1.2717-22, up from Tuesday's 5 p.m. quote of $1.2476-78, and at 123.70-80 yen, up from 117.95-99 yen.

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