Japanese stocks end higher, supported by strong earnings ‎

Japanese stocks closed higher on Friday, boosted by strong corporate earnings and local business expectations, with Tokyo Electron leading gains after raising its annual profit forecast.

According to Reuters, the Nikkei index rose 0.31 percent to close at 27,670.98 points, after rising 0.8 percent earlier in the session. The index recorded a weekly gain of 0.59 percent

The broader Topix index gave up some of its gains, to close up only 0.1 percent, at 1986.96 points, bringing its weekly gains to 0.85 percent.

Chipmaking equipment Tokyo Electron rose 4.35% after the company raised its full-year operating profit forecast, becoming the biggest supporter of the Nikkei index. Advantest shares rose 1.5 percent

Kobe Steel steel jumped 14.97, to record the best performance on the Nikkei index, after announcing a record dividend for the full year.

The steel industry index rose 3.4 to become the best-performing sector among the 33 industry sub-indices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Dai Nippon Printing Co rose 13.81% after the printing company announced its largest share buyback to date.

The real estate sector declined 1.54 percent, affected by losses of Mitsubishi Real Estate and Mitsui Fudosan, 3.77 and 1.2 percent, respectively.