By Stanley White
TOKYO, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks rose on Friday,
tracking tech-led strength on Wall Street overnight as hopes for
more U.S. stimulus offset some concerns about the health of the
global economy.
The Nikkei 225 Index .N225 rose 0.71% to 23,251.10 by 0200
GMT. The broader Topix .TOPX gained 0.59% to 1,636.03.
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are working
on a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that could be
voted on next week. As much as $380 billion from the U.S. Congress' last big
coronavirus aid package is unused and could help households and
businesses if lawmakers approve, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. Japan's high-tech shares rose, tracking overnight gains in
U.S. bellwethers such as Apple Inc AAPL.O , Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O , Nvidia Corp NVDA.O and Facebook Inc .FB.O .
Still, some analysts warned that further upside for Japanese
shares could be limited by concerns about a second wave of
coronavirus cases in Europe.
Among the top 30 core Topix names, electric parts maker
Keyence 6861.T and automaker Toyota Motor Co 6981.T gained
the most, up 1.95% and 1.93%, respectively.
The biggest underperformers were East Japan Railway Co
9020.T , down 2.65%, and Central Japan Railway Co 9022.T ,
which shed 2.13%.
There were 164 advancers on the Nikkei index against 53
decliners on Friday.
For the week, the Nikkei was on course for a 0.49% decline,
reflecting investors' concerns about the economic impact of a
second wave of coronavirus infections in Europe and the United
States. The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 0.47 billion, compared with the average
of 1.14 billion in the past 30 days.
(Editing by Devika Syamnath)