TOKYO, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed higher Friday, with the benchmark Nikkei stock index hitting a two-month closing high as concerns were eased over the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary tightening moves owing to a jobs report missing expectations.
In addition, casual clothing chain Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing helped lift the market after reporting a surge in same-store sales in Japan in May.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 347.69 points, or 1.27 percent, from Thursday to close the day at 27,761.57, marking its highest closing level since April 5.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, added 6.75 points, or 0.35 percent, to finish at 1,933.14.
As for Fast Retailing's leap, brokers here said that along with other retailers boasting solid sales, signs of the economy normalizing were becoming evident.
"Fast Retailing and other retailers have posted robust sales for the past month, which is a sign that the economy is normalizing," Ikuo Mitsui, fund manager at Aizawa Securities, was quoted as saying.
"But looking at the limited gains on the Topix index, we can say investors are still careful about the outlook and are awaiting U.S. jobs data," Mitsui said.
Some investors, to this end, opted not to chase the market higher, however, and hit the sidelines ahead of the release later in the day of the U.S. government's non-farm payrolls data, which will also impact the future of the Fed's monetary policy, local analysts said.
The release of the highly-anticipated U.S. government's non-farm payrolls data follows the ADP National Employment Report released overnight with the figures coming in well-below median analysts' expectations.
By the close of play, mining, precision instrument and nonferrous metal issues comprised those that gained the most on the Prime Market, with rising issues outpacing falling ones by 995 to 774, while 68 ended the day unchanged.
Fast Retailing provided the biggest boost to the Nikkei, jumping 5.9 percent, after announcing that its same-store sales in Japan in May jumped 17.5 percent, marking the second straight month of increase.
Technology issues found favor, with chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron climbing 2.4 percent, while tech startup investor SoftBank Group ended the day 2.2 percent higher.
Energy issues also got a boost from an increase in crude oil futures to a three-month high during trading in New York.
As a result, oil exploration giant Inpex rose 2.5 percent, while refiner Eneos Holdings added 1.0 percent by the close.
Bucking the upward trend, multinational conglomerate Toshiba dropped 2.4 percent after revealing it had eight possible proposals related to its acquisition, along with two proposals for capital alliances, which would keep it listed.
Honda Motor was another notable loser, skidding down 1 percent, after filling a recall for nearly 22,000 mini-vehicles owing to a fuel pump component issue that could cause them to stall, sources close to the matter said.
On the Prime Market on Friday, 1,108.28 million shares changed hands, rising from Thursday's volume of 1,095.37 million shares.
The turnover on the final trading day of the week came to 2,679.33 billion yen (20.61 billion U.S. dollars). ■
