1st LD Writethru: Tokyo stocks close higher on Wall Street's overnight rally

TOKYO, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed higher Friday with bellwether firms and tech-related issues gaining ground tracking their U.S. counterparts' rise on Wall Street's overnight rally.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 295.22 points, or 1.40 percent, from Thursday to close the day at 21,454.30.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, added 12.30 points, or 0.72 percent, to finish at 1,716.30.

Local brokers said that market sentiment was lifted by Wall Street's solid performance overnight, with tech-related issues bolstering the market along with bellwether blue chips.

They added that heavily weighted issues like industrial robotics maker Fanuc and chip-maker Tokyo Electron helped prop up the market on the last trading day of fiscal 2017.

Market strategists here said that foreign investors were seen adjusting positions ahead of the long Easter weekend in some oversees countries, and that eased geopolitical concerns further added to a buoyant mood.

By the close of play, marine transportation, nonferrous metal and mining-linked issues comprised those that gained the most, and rising issues beat falling ones by 1,492 to 536 on the First Section, with 51 ending the day unchanged.

On the main section on Friday, 1,140.75 million shares changed hands, dropping from Thursday's volume of 1,324.42 million shares.

The turnover on the final trading day of the week came to 2,148.6 billion yen (20.23 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem