TOKYO: Tokyo shares closed higher on Friday as investors took heart from a rebound on Wall Street and the yen’s slight depreciation against the dollar.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.52 percent, or 173.70 points, to 33,625.53, while the broader Topix index ended up 0.54 percent, or 12.75 points, at 2,390.94.
“A wide range of shares were bought led by exporters, supported by rallies in US shares (on Wednesday) and the dollar’s recovery to around 149.50 yen,” Iwai Cosmo Securities said.
Markets were closed on Thursday in the United States for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Tokyo market was also closed for a national holiday on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.5 percent.
The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.4 percent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index won 0.5 percent.
The dollar stood at 149.28 yen in late Asian trade, against 149.62 yen in London on Thursday. The level was still higher than 148.90 yen in Tokyo on Wednesday.
In Tokyo trading, automakers were higher, with Toyota jumping 2.73 percent to 2,803 yen and Honda gaining 1.78 percent to 1,570 yen.
Nissan rallied 2.12 percent to 596.5 yen.
Engineering firms were also higher. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries soared 6.38 percent to 824 yen, and IHI climbed 4.11 percent to 3,000 yen.
Ahead of the opening bell, the government reported that consumer inflation was up 2.9 percent year-on-year in October due to a reduction in energy subsidies. Stripping out fresh food and energy, Japan’s prices rose 4.0 percent, data published by the internal affairs ministry showed.
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