Tokyo's Nikkei average closed up 0.5 percent on Friday amid record-high trading volumes as an upbeat outlook from Intel Corp buoyed local chip stocks such as Advantest Corp and economic optimism lifted brokers and real estate shares. Analysts said that in addition to continued buying by foreign investors, individual players were keen to snap up mid-cap stocks and others seen as lagging the market's recent rally. "The market's recent gains, especially in small and mid-cap stocks, have made individual investors good money.
They're continuing to seek bargains and giving the market a healthy buying cycle," said Cosmo Securities strategist Kenichi Azuma. "The Nikkei could reach 13,000 before the Golden Week holidays (at the end of April) as pension funds will start pouring in fresh money after the start of the new business year (on April 1)."
The Nikkei gained 58.98 points to 11,923.89, near a 10-month closing high of 11,966.96 hit on Wednesday. The broader TOPIX index put on 0.38 percent to 1,200.00.
Reflecting investor bullishness about the market's outlook and due to transactions related to Friday's settlement of March index futures and options, trading volume on the Tokyo bourse's first section hit a record high 2.904 billion shares.
On Thursday, 1.952 billion shares changed hands. Advantest, the world's biggest maker of chip-testing devices, climbed 1.7 percent to 8,820 yen after Intel raised the mid-point of its first-quarter revenue forecast as well as its profit-margin target after the close of US trade on Thursday.
Electronics parts maker Kyocera Corp jumped 1.9 percent to 8,030 yen and Disco Corp rose 1.3 percent to 4,860 yen. Real estate stocks shined as the best performer with the sector's subindex jumping 2.63 percent after industry data on Thursday showed office vacancy rates in central Tokyo had fallen for a seventh straight month in February.
Mitsui Fudosan Co, Japan's biggest real estate firm, rallied 3.5 percent to 1,334 yen and rival Mitsubishi Estate Co climbed 3.2 percent to 1,337 yen.
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