TOKYO, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed higher Monday as investor sentiment was lifted by hopes the government here may soon decided to lift coronavirus-linked restrictions and allow some businesses to restart in prefectures where the virus has been less prevalent.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 211.57 points, or 1.05 percent, from Friday to close the day at 20,390.66, marking the highest closing level since March 6.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, added 22.34 points, or 1.53 percent, to finish at 1,480.62.
Brokers here said trading got off to a positive start, with gains extended in the afternoon to take the benchmark Nikkei to a two-month closing high, after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament the country's coronavirus crisis period is "steadily" coming to an end.
Adding to the upbeat mood, Yasutoshi Nishimura, economic revitalization minister, also in charge of the government's coronavirus response, said that regions here where no new virus cases have been detected or have markedly dropped may see the emergency declaration lifted before the end of May deadline.
"While the emergency status is likely to remain in place for large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, investors were relieved to see signs of an end to business restrictions imposed to contain the virus," Shingo Ide, chief equity strategist at NLI Research Institute, was quoted as saying.
The potential move by Japan to partially lift coronavirus-induced restrictions comes as a number of other countries since late March have begun to restart economic activities, as stringent lockdown measures have been eased, and exit strategies formulated, market strategists here highlighted.
Buying was also propelled by the yen's retreat against the U.S. dollar following jobs data released Friday showing that while the unemployment rate in the United States rose to levels not seen since the Great Depression in April, the non-farm payrolls data actual came in ahead of median market expectations, investment analysts said.
Among issues highly susceptible to external factors that act as a barometer of global sentiment, demand and production, semiconductor issues found traction Monday.
Sumco soared 5.8 percent, as despite reporting its operating profit for the January-March quarter had dropped more than 40 percent and its forecast for the January-June period was down almost 30 percent, market players remained confident in the industry's overall global rebound in the weeks and months ahead.
Other chip-related issues were thus given a boost, with Taiyo Yuden climbing 3.0 percent, while Screen Holdings added 3.3 percent by the close.
Exporters including automakers accelerated on the yen's softer tone versus the U.S. dollar, with Mazda Motor surging 8.0 percent, Nissan Motor leaping 9.3 percent, while Subaru ended the day jumping 5.0 percent higher.
By the close of play, air transportation, marine transportation, and iron and steel-related issues comprised those that gained the most, and issues that rose outpaced those that fell by 1,728 to 398 on the First Section, while 45 ended the day unchanged.
On the main section on Monday, 1.313 billion shares changed hands, dropping from Friday's volume of 1.372 billion shares.
The turnover on the first trading day of the week came to 2.209 trillion yen (20.599 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem
