TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended 0.13 percent higher on Monday as a softer yen and positive Chinese manufacturing data helped lift sentiment.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 12.17 points to 9,458.18, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares was flat, adding 0.03 percent, or 0.27 points, to 781.73.
An uptick in capital spending by Japanese firms helped buoy the market with investors eyeing further easing by the Bank of Japan as the nation heads to the polls on December 16.
Shinzo Abe, Japan's main opposition leader and the frontrunner to become prime minister after the polls, has repeatedly said he would heap pressure on the central bank for aggressive easing to boost the limp economy.
"Stocks rose for the same reasons again: hopes for a new government and a weaker yen," Takashi Ito, equity market strategist at Nomura Securities, told Kyodo news agency.
"This downtrend for the yen and uptrend for stocks is unlikely to be reversed until the election unless something very negative happens.
"We'll closely watch a series of US economic data this week, most importantly Friday's jobs report," he added.
Tokyo was also supported Monday by weekend data that showed China's manufacturing activity grew in November for the second month in a row, another sign of strength in the world's second-biggest economy after a marked slowdown.
"The Chinese data reassured us that China's economy is returning to a recovery track," an equity trader at a domestic brokerage told Dow Jones Newswires.
Nissan Motor rose 1.00 percent 807 yen, Canon was up 2.7 percent to 2,961 yen, while Sony slipped 0.49 percent to 797 yen and Toyota lost 0.57 percent to 3,515 yen.
Uniqlo cheap chic clothing operator Fast Retailing added 1.55 percent to 19,010 yen after saying Friday it would acquire an 80.1 percent stake in US apparel maker J Brand Holdings LLC for about $300 million.
In currency trading, the euro fetched $1.3032 and 107.24 yen in afternoon Asian trade, up from $1.2982 and 107.07 yen in New York late Friday.
The dollar slipped to 82.29 yen from 82.48 yen. (AFP)
