Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, gained 135.03 points, or 0.35 percent, from Friday to close the day at 39,233.71, marking a historic high for the second consecutive trading day.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, finished 12.91 points, or 0.49 percent, higher at 2,673.62, its highest level in approximately 34 years.
During the morning session on Monday, The Nikkei average rose by nearly 300 points but lost momentum in the latter half of the day, narrowing the gains to less than 100 points. Market watchers here attributed the pullback to declines in Tokyo Electron and Lasertec, which had surged in the previous session following robust earnings from tech giant Nvidia on the U.S. market.
Significant gains were witnessed among pharmaceutical stocks, amid buying interest in trading companies as a result of speculation about the increase in the ownership ratio of Japanese stocks by renowned investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, according to local analysts.
On the Prime Market, gainers were led by pharmaceutical, precision instruments and bank shares.
Issues that advanced outpaced those that declined by 838 to 757, while 62 ended the day unchanged.
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