TOKYO, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index ended higher Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street overnight, as investors eyed the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan's policy-setting meeting this week.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 168.83 points, or 0.52 percent, from Friday to close the day at 32,434.00.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, gained 14.45 points, or 0.65 percent, to finish at 2,238.77.
Dealers here said that drugmakers got a boost following Eisai's new Alzheimer's drug jointly developed with U.S. biotech giant Biogen Inc., receiving approval from a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel.
They added that semiconductor-oriented issues also found favor, following their U.S. peers climbing higher overnight.
But some investors adopted a wait-and-see approach, market strategists here said, ahead of the outcome of the Fed's two-day meeting ending Wednesday and the outcome of the Bank of Japan's meeting on Friday.
Key U.S. inflation data scheduled for release Tuesday evening will likely inform the Fed's decision as to whether to continue with its aggressive rate hikes to combat inflation, lower its rate, or skip a month of interest hikes, they added.
"Japan, the United States, and Europe all have central bank policy meetings taking place, and various indicators to confirm the economic situation will also be released," Shingo Ide, chief equity strategist at the NLI Research Institute, was quoted as saying.
"Until the U.S. consumer price index data for May is released Tuesday night the Japanese market is likely to show a strong wait-and-see attitude, with movements limited," said Ide.
Among pharmaceutical issues gaining ground, Eisai Co. added 1.9 percent, while Daiichi Sankyo climbed 4.1 percent. Chugai Pharmaceutical, meanwhile, ended 2.1 percent higher.
Chip-linked issues gaining traction included chip-making machinery maker Tokyo Electron advancing 0.2 percent, while chip-testing equipment maker Advantest rose 2.9 percent. Chip manufacturer Renesas Electronics, for its part, ended the day 1.8 percent higher.
By the close of play, precision instrument, pharmaceutical, and pulp and paper-linked issues comprised those that gained the most.
The turnover on the Prime Market on the first trading day of the week came to 3,042.21 billion yen (21.85 billion U.S. dollars). ■
