TOKYO: Japanese shares ended higher on Tuesday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains, led by auto makers and shippers, with demand for securing rights for dividend payouts driving the market.
The Nikkei share average rose 1.1% to close at 28,252.42, while the broader Topix climbed 0.93% to 1,91.66.
"Today is the last day to secure dividend allotments, which boosted demand for stocks," Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management, said, adding that a fall in oil prices also lifted sentiment.
Auto and parts makers and shippers led gains among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry subindexes, rising 2.08% and 1.82%, respectively.
Toyota Motor rose 2.68%, Honda Motor gained 2.27% and Nissan Motor climbed 1.44%, as the yen hovered its lowest against the dollar since August 2015.
On the other hand, refiners were the top losers, falling 1.69% as oil prices fell.
Eneos Holdings slipped 2.06% and Idemitsu Kosan lost 1.4%.
Utility Chubu Electric Power was the top performer on Nikkei, with a gain of 5.88%, followed by medical platform M3 gaining 4.6% and motorcycle maker Yamaha Motor rose 4.19%.
There were 142 advancers on the Nikkei index against 79 decliners.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board was 1.36 billion, compared to the average of 1.37 billion in the past 30 days.
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