TOKYO: Strong yen and Wall Street rallies led Tokyo stock finish higher by 1.01 percent on Friday, the last trading day.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended up 152.68 points at 15,291.64, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares rose 0.81 percent, or 9.98 points, to 1,242.32.
A weak yen is positive for Japanese exporters as it makes them more competitive abroad and inflates profits when repatriated.
Despite Tokyo’s rise, investors will be keeping a close eye on the situation in New York where officials on Friday confirmed the city’s first known case of the Ebola virus.
A doctor who recently returned to New York from treating Ebola patients in Guinea tested positive on Thursday for the deadly virus.
In forex trade, the greenback was about 0.3 percent lower at 107.98 yen after earlier dropping as low as 107.86.
In share trading, Toyota rose 1.75 percent to end at 6,151.0 yen following a report that it is set to book a record operating profit in the six-month period to September.
Auto parts giant Takata remained under selling pressure, losing 2.78 percent at 1,538.0 yen after a report this week that US justice officials are investigating the firm over an air bag defect that may have killed several drivers.
Honda fell 1.29 percent to 3,322.0 yen after the automaker said its top executives would return as much as 20 percent of their salary for three months to atone for a recall of more than 425,000 vehicles in Japan due to electrical system glitches.
US stocks bolted higher Thursday following a series of mostly strong earnings reports from Dow companies Caterpillar, 3M and others.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 1.32 percent while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.23 percent.