By Myra P. Saefong
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Average touched a high of 10,773.14, its strongest intraday level since October 2008, following gains on Wall Street. The index was up 1% at 10,759.15 in early trading Tuesday, while the Topix was up 1.1% at 926.15. Shares of Elpida Memory Inc. (JP:6665 1,508, +2.00, +0.13%) (ELPDF 13.70, -0.20, -1.44%) were among the biggest advancers, up 5.7%. The Nikkei reported that the firm's Taiwanese unit Rexchip Electronics Corp. will invest some 40 billion yen ($433 million) to introduce state-of-the-art chipmaking equipment and convert all its lines to Elpida's newly developed 45-nanometer process dynamic random-access memory technology. Elpida will also start output of an "extra-shrink" version of DRAM chips at its Hiroshima, Japan, factory in the January-March quarter, the Nikkei reported. Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.1%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1%.
