Tokyo stocks ended 0.24 percent higher on Wednesday, extending their winning streak for a fifth straight day although profit-taking held back larger gains. The Nikkei 225 index added 34.43 points to finish at 14,670.95, while the Topix index of all first-section shares was up 0.26 percent, or 3.06 points, to 1,198.17. Tokyo's rise came on the back of another strong showing on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 Tuesday notched a record close for the second straight session following some solid economic data.
The broad-based index rose 0.60 percent to 1,911.91, after closing above the 1,900 level for the first time on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.42 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.22 percent. The upbeat US lead buoyed optimism in Japan although the Nikkei was flat for much of the session. It has risen four percent over the past few days, prompting some investors to take profits.
"It looks like dollar-yen has topped out for the time being at just under 102, and without higher US Treasury rates expectations for a further rise are going to be limited," said Daisuke Uno, strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. Japan's biggest real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan fell 4.73 percent to close at 3,182 yen on dilution fears. The firm announced after the market closed on Tuesday that it would raise about $3.2 billion in a new share sale as the property market rebounds before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Construction companies rose after the government announced new measures to help rebuild houses in areas hit by the 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster. Shimizu jumped 5.60 percent to 660 yen and Obayashi was up 3.38 percent to close at 671 yen.
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