1st LD Writethru: Tokyo stocks end higher amid trade friction concerns

TOKYO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed higher Monday as issues sensitive to domestic demand advanced but a circumspect market mood remained amid ongoing trade concerns.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 110.74 points, or 0.51 percent, from Friday to close the day at 21,678.26, marking its highest closing level since March 15.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, gained 6.58 points, or 0.38 percent, to finish at 1,725.88.

After breaking even in early trade, stocks advanced in the afternoon session as investors sought out domestic demand-sensitive issues, like retailers, amid ongoing concerns about international trade tensions, local brokers said.

The yen hovering around the 107 line against the U.S. dollar and not appreciating more also added some support amid an overall circumspect mood, market strategists said.

Fishery and agriculture, insurance, and pulp and paper-linked issues comprised those that gained the most by the close of play, and rising issues beat declining ones by 1,117 to 873 on the First Section, with 91 ending the day unchanged.

On the main section on Monday, 1,390.23 million shares changed hands, dropping from Friday's volume of 1,469.38 million shares.

The turnover on the first trading day of the week came to 2,265.2 billion yen (21.15 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem