Japan's Nikkei average rose two percent to end at a 22-month high on Friday as investors cheered by a rally on Wall Street returned to Tokyo Electron and other high-techs, brushing off the threat of a stronger yen.
"High-tech shares had been out of the loop, but big gains in New York stocks brought them back," said Toshihiko Matsuno, a senior strategist at SMBC Friend Securities' investment research department.
The Nikkei closed up 2.08 percent at 11,770.65, the highest since June 3, 2002. It also posted its biggest percentage one-day gain since March 1.
For the full week the Nikkei chalked up a rise of 3.08 percent and appears set for a rally to the key 12,000 level.
The broader TOPIX index jumped 1.41 percent to 1,176.32, its highest close since August 15, 2001, when it marked 1,194.33.
On Friday marked the start of trading in Japanese shares for settlement in the financial year starting on April 1. Traders said this meant there would be no more selling by domestic institutional investors to unload stocks so as to tidy up their books for the financial year-end on March 31.
Technology shares, which are mostly blue chips, are widely held by corporate pension funds and other domestic institutional investors and often become the subject of profit taking at the end of March.
Industry data showing strong orders for Japanese semiconductor equipment in February also helped large-cap technology shares, pushing chip testing device maker Advantest Corp up 7.05 percent to 8,650 yen, with its peer Tokyo Electron Ltd rising 6.72 percent to 6,990 yen.
Likewise, NEC Corp surged 4.99 percent to 862 yen and Sony Corp rose 4.05 percent 4,370 yen.
Domestic-oriented stocks, which drove the market's recent rises, were mixed.
Steel firms' shares got a boost from a news report that they are set to raise prices for major customers such as auto makers and shipbuilders by 5-10 percent as soon as next month.
JFE Holdings, the world's most valuable steel maker in terms of market capitalisation, climbed 1.75 percent to 2,900 while its rival Kobe Steel added 1.24 percent to 163 yen.
Meanwhile retail, construction and shipping firms were sold. Major shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd sank 1.6 percent to 553 yen while builder Kajima Corp lost 2.34 percent to 460 yen.
Gainers outnumbered decliners 811 to 639 on the first section. Volume edged down, with 1.69 billion shares changing hands on the first section versus 1.98 billion on Thursday. In value, turnover topped 1.5 trillion yen for a third day in a row.
Azuma at Cosmo Securities said demand for liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions should remain strong for at least next five years as the global penetration rate for the sleek flat-screen TVs was now at around two percent, he said.
"Unlike digital cameras, televisions are something everyone has to have," he said.
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