Tokyo stocks finish higher with high-tech issues attracting buying

TOKYO, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks finished higher on Thursday as high-tech shares attracted buying, although gains in the market were reduced by surging crude oil prices which might slow down recovery of the global economy.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average finished 410.65 points, or 1.46 percent, higher from Wednesday at 28,550.93.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed 13.14 points, or 0.67 percent, higher at 1,986.97.

Trading volume on the main section increased to 1,152.66 million shares from Wednesday's 1,111.80 million shares.

Tokyo stocks opened high in the morning and remained in an upward trend throughout the day, as large-cap shares consisting of chip-related issues attracted buying, tracking overnight gains in the U.S. technology-heavy Nasdaq index.

However, the elevated crude oil prices dragged down the stock price of many firms such as transportation issues, as Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said the previous day that the average retail gasoline price in Japan had surged to its highest level in seven years.

Koichi Fujishiro, a senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, said, "The upward trend in oil prices, alongside other raw material costs, was a negative factor on the market as the rise is expected to squeeze corporate profits," but adding that the weakened Japanese yen against U.S. dollar and a halt to the rise in U.S. Treasury yields partly offset the negative impacts.

The market has also been supported by the hope for fresh economic policies under Japan's new government after the general election scheduled on Oct. 31, brokers said.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was elected to the office on Oct. 4, dissolved the House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon as he would seek a public mandate for his newly launched government.

Farm and fishery, precision instrument, and electric appliance firms headed the increase. By the close of play, advancing issues slightly outnumbered declining ones 1,048 to 1,037 on the First Section, while 98 finished unchanged.

Chip-related companies performed strongly in response to overnight advances in the U.S. Nasdaq index, with Tokyo Electron surging 5.2 percent and Advantest jumping 3.8 percent.

Restaurant chain Saizeriya soared 13.0 percent after releasing a brisk earnings forecast for the business year through August 2022 on Wednesday.

Bucking the increasing trend, airline operators and some automakers faced selling because of the concern over rising crude oil prices. ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines both dropped 1.0 percent, while Mazda Motor and Suzuki Motor fell 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.