Tokyo - Stocks in Tokyo rose Friday amid hopes among investors that the economic downturn in the United States, a top export market for Japan, was easing. The gains came after the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street rose overnight to a five-month high after declines in US jobless claims.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 99.05 points, or 1.02 percent, to close at 9,768.01.
The broader-based Topix index was also up 5.57 points, or 0.61 percent, to 916.56.
For the week, the Nikkei rose 2.6 per cent while the Topix was up 2 per cent.
Also helping shares Friday was a weakening in the yen, making Japanese exports cheaper abroad and raising Japanese exporters' overseas earnings.
On currency markets at midday (0300 GMT), the dollar traded at 96.82-87 yen, up from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 96.20-22 yen.
The euro traded at 1.4200-05 dollars, down from late Thursday's quote of 1.4226-29 dollars, and at 137.53-58 yen, up from 136.87-91 yen.
