TOKYO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed higher Thursday as investor sentiment was lifted by Wall Street's overnight rebound and a softer yen against the U.S. dollar giving exporters a boost.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 121.14 points, or 0.53 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 22,838.37.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, gained 8.02 points, or 0.45 percent, to finish at 1,808.37.
Wall Street's solid performance overnight set the stage for buying in early trade here, brokers said, with a comparatively weak yen versus the U.S. dollar lifting exporter issues.
Market strategists said that hedge funds, spurred by the weak yen, bought stock futures which led to heavily-weighted components on the Nikkei being sold.
A key gauge showing that industrial production in the U.S. had increased at a rate above median analysts' expectations in April also helped lift market sentiment here, local technical analysts said.
By the close of play, fishery, agriculture and forestry, oil and coal product, and glass and ceramic product-linked issues comprised those that gained the most.
Rising issues beat declining ones by 1,146 to 840 on the First Section, while 97 ended the day unchanged, and on the main section, 1,473.47 million shares changed hands, dropping from Wednesday's volume of 1,626.72 million shares.
The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week came to 2,387.0 billion yen (21.60 billion U.S. dollars).
