Tokyo stocks finished the morning higher Tuesday, with the Nikkei Stock Average moving into positive territory, erasing morning losses triggered by short-covering. The benchmark Nikkei index reached 8,679.47, up 44.03 points, or 0.51%, according to the (Nikkei) website. External conditions are not showing any signs of improvement. “Short-covering and other supply-demand factors therefore appear to have led the rise in the index,” said one official at a domestic brokerage. TDK Corp. (6762) and Sharp Corp. (6753) opened lower but later started to rise, likely due to short-covering. However, investors generally avoided making aggressive purchases ahead of a two-day meeting of the US Federal Open Market Committee through Wednesday, as well as the European Central Bank’s policy board meeting on Thursday.