Nikkei ends at highest in over two months

Tokyo's benchmark index closed at its highest level in more than two months Friday after Wall Street powered to fresh records and a weaker yen boosted sentiment. The strong session comes as investors look to Japanese second-quarter GDP data on Monday with economists expecting a weaker 0.2 percent on-quarter expansion for the April-June period.
The world's number three economy grew 0.5 percent in the first quarter, after a contraction in the last three months of 2015.
The latest growth figures come on the back of mounting doubts about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to spur growth, dubbed Abenomics, as Japan's social welfare costs inflate one of the world's biggest national debts.
Tokyo this month promised a 28-trillion yen ($246 billion) economic stimulus package, marking its latest attempt to stimulate lacklustre growth.
Japanese markets, which were closed Thursday for a public holiday, got off to a strong start Friday after all three major US indices vaulted to records due to gains in petroleum-linked shares and retailers.
"As long as US shares continue to rally, equity markets will remain stable," Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist in Sydney at CMC Markets, told Bloomberg News.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 1.10 percent, or 184.80 points, to 16,919.92, its highest close since early June. The index rose 4.09 percent over the week.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares gained 0.64 percent, or 8.39 points, to 1,323.22. It was up 3.14 percent over the week.
Sharp's volatile stock soared more than 19 percent to 106 yen after the company said it had won approval from Chinese antitrust authorities on its deal to be acquired by Taiwanese electronics giant Hon Hai Precision, better known as Foxconn.
Toshiba jumped 3.79 percent to 273.9 yen after announcing that it swung to a 79.8 billion yen net profit for the April-June period.
Shikoku Electric Power surged 5.82 percent to 1,036 yen after the utility restarted its Ikata No 3 nuclear reactor on Friday, in the latest victory for Tokyo's faltering bid to hike its use of nuclear power after the Fukushima accident.
On forex markets, the dollar was at 102.04 yen, nearly flat from 102.02 yen in New York and up from 101.23 yen in Tokyo on Wednesday.
A weaker yen bolsters the overseas profitability of Japan's exporters, and tends to boost demand for their shares.