TOKYO, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed higher on Thursday, bringing an end to the benchmark Nikkei stock index's six-day losing streak as bargain-hunting buoyed the market and the yen's retreat against the U.S. dollar added support.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 387.82 points, or 1.68 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 23,486.11.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, gained 33.73 points, or 1.84 percent, to finish at 1,870.44.
Investors buying on dips buoyed the overall market from early trading, equity analysts said, following the Nikkei relinquishing 4 percent over a six-day loosing streak.
With solid earnings reports from Japanese bellwether firms also bolstering risk appetite, gains were extended in later trade, with the dollar's rise to above the 109 yen mark also adding support.
A weaker yen versus its major counterparts is a boon for some investors as listed companies, like Toyota and Sony, with a broad exposure to overseas markets, see profit yields increased when repatriated on favorable exchange rates and their overall competitiveness raised.
Local brokers also noted that a rise in U.S. government bond yields lifted the banking sector here Thursday, with both Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group adding more than 4 percent by the close.
Bank, oil and coal product, and pharmaceutical-related issues comprised those that gained the most during trading hours, and rising issues outpaced declining ones by 1,789 to 238, on the First Section, with 35 ending the day unchanged.
On the main section on Thursday, 1,816.56 million shares changed hands, edging down from Wednesday's volume of 1,820.73 million shares.
The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week came to 3,513.4 billion yen (32.07 billion U.S. dollars).
