TOKYO, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index ended higher for a sixth straight day on Friday, as Fast Retailing surged on its solid earnings and outlook, with energy issues also finding favor.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended up 336.50 points, or 1.20 percent, from Thursday to close the day at 28,493.47.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, gained 10.79 points, or 0.54 percent, to finish at 2,018.72.
Local brokers said that Nikkei heavyweight Fast Retailing, operator of the Uniqlo clothing store chain, buoyed the wider market after announcing solid earnings for the first six months to February a day earlier.
The retailer surged 8.5 percent on Friday, after announcing its net profit rose 4.5 percent to a record 153.39 billion yen (1.15 billion U.S. dollars), with sales climbing 20.4 percent to a record 1.47 trillion yen (11.10 billion dollars) in the first six months to February.
The company said that its solid profit and sales in the recording period were driven by its overseas businesses, with the firm upwardly revising its net profit projection for the year ending August as well as its full-year sales forecast.
"Although market participants were expecting favorable earnings from Fast Retailing, they came in above their projections," Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, was quoted as saying.
Energy-linked issues, including trading houses, also advanced, following a spike in the price of crude oil, with Itochu climbing 4.5 percent, Mitsui adding 3.2 percent, while Marubeni ended 3.2 percent higher.
Tokyo Electron, a chip-making equipment maker, weighed the most on the Nikkei, losing 1.8 percent, while automakers lost ground, with Toyota dropping 0.2 percent and Honda reversing 1.4 percent.
By the close of play, wholesale trade, retail, and warehousing and harbor transportation service shares comprised those that gained the most.
The turnover on the Prime Market on the final trading day of the week came to 2,932.32 billion yen (22.13 billion dollars). ■