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TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese stocks rose Monday morning, led by gains in airline and brokerage issues and helped by Wall Street's continuing rally. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 154.85 points, or 0.91 percent, to 17,211.86 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at the end of morning session Monday. The Nikkei maintained its momentum from Friday, when it rose 1.30 percent. Sentiment was supported by the gain in U.S. markets Friday, when the Dow Jones industrial average marked its 24th record close since the start of October. Airline and financial stocks were among the early gainers Monday in Tokyo. Japan Airlines rose 4.7 percent to 246 yen ($2.04) on reports it will secure new funding for restructuring efforts. Brokerage Nikko Cordial added 3.4 percent to 1,310 yen ($10.89) following reports Canadian investment firm Mackenzie Financial takes a 5.74 percent stake in the company. Traders also reacted positively to the government announcement that Japanese machine orders -- widely regarded as a leading indicator of corporate capital investment -- rose 3.8 percent in November from October. The figure was better than the 3.4 percent forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. The broader Topix index, which includes all shares on the exchange's first section, was up 16.57 points, or 0.98 percent, to 1,701.84 points Monday. In currencies, the U.S. dollar was trading at 120.24 yen on the Tokyo foreign exchange market at 10:50 a.m. (0150 GMT) Monday, down from 120.35 yen late Friday in New York. The euro rose to $1.2922, from $1.2914