TOKYO, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo shares closed slightly higher Monday on strong U.S. stocks before the weekend due to solid U.S. retail sales data and favorable earnings reports from major banks.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended up 43.75 points, or 0.26 percent, from Friday at 16,900.12.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 5.37 points, or 0.40 percent, higher at 1,352.56.
Gainers were led by mining, iron and steel, and real estate issues.
The day's turnover was around 1,633.3 billion yen (15.67 billion U.S. dollars).
