Tokyo stocks close higher on bargain hunting, U.S. shares' upturn

Tokyo stocks closed higher Friday as investors snapped up issued deemed oversold following the market's two-day run of closing lows, with sentiment boosted by a solid performance on Wall Street overnight.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 79.68 points, or 0.48 percent, from Thursday to close the day at 16,642.23.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, finished 5.42 points, or 0.41 percent, higher at 1,337.23.

Local brokers said that despite a rally on Wall Street helping to underpin the market from the morning, as well as comparatively cheap issues available that had beem oversold over the past two days, gains were capped by some investors hitting the sidelines ahead of a key U.S. employment report due out later in the day.

Analysts here also said that following Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announcing his decision to renege on a pledge to raise consumption tax next year and postpone the hike by 2 and a half years has also impacted market sentiment, in as much as confidence in "Abenomics" has dwindled and a clear policy roadmap for Japan's fiscal rehabilitation remains unclear.

Notable issued that gained on Friday comprised fishery, agriculture and forestry as well as retail and foods-linked issues.

The turnover on the last trading day of the week was 1,769.5 billion yen (16.27 billion U.S. dollars). Endit