Dec. 25 at 4:21 PM
Tokyo stocks edged higher on Thursday in largely directionless trading, as activity remained subdued due to the Christmas holiday lull. The Nikkei index rose 0.13% to 50,407.79, while the broader Topix gained 0.31% to 3,417.98, reflecting modest buying interest.
The market found some support from gains on Wall Street the previous session, which lifted several heavyweight Japanese stocks. Toyota, the largest company by market value, rose 0.63%, and major lender Mitsubishi UFJ advanced 0.14%.
However, selling to lock in profits ahead of the New Year holidays weighed on some stocks that have led gains over the past year. SoftBank slipped 0.23%, while semiconductor shares were mixed, with Advantest falling 1.81% and Tokyo Electron climbing 1.72%.
In other sectors, Sony gained 1.23% and Nintendo rose 1.1%, while Fast Retailing, owner of Uniqlo, declined 0.71%.
$TM $MUFG $SFTBY $NTDOY