Tokyo stocks remained flat and sluggish most of the trading time in the day but closed higher on late buying on Friday.
The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 138.88 points, or 1.66 percent, from Thursday to 8,512.27.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 5.79 points, or 0.70 percent, to 834. 82.
Gains were led by real estate, mining, and iron and steel issues. Major decliners included insurance, gas and electric, and retail issues.
On the First Section, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones 1,079 to 538, with 92 others remaining unchanged.
By sector, financial issues were cheered by brighter prospects for the global economy and for overcoming the credit crisis thanks to the recent series of measures by major economies. Among them, volume leader Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 3 yen, or 0.58 percent, to 521 yen.
A notable gainer was Kyocera, which surged 880 yen, or over 17 percent, to 5,960 yen, after the major comprehensive ceramics manufacturer said Thursday it will buy back up to 38 billion yen worth of its own shares, or 4.22 percent of its total outstanding shares.
Electronics giant Panasonic, which was the day's value leader, continued losing streak on Friday. It lost 140 yen, or nearly 11 percent, to 1,144 yen, yen, after it said Thursday it has slashed its group net profit projection for fiscal 2008 by 90.3 percent from its original target to 30 billion yen.
Trading volume on the main section came to 1,969.27 million shares, up from Thursday's 1,584.49 million.
The TSE's Second Section index was up 7.07 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,946.53 on a volume of 20.40 million shares. On the Osaka Securities Exchange, the near-term December Nikkei 225 index futures contract was up 150 points to 8,520.
Source:Xinhua
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