TOKYO, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo shares closed higher Wednesday tracking the advance in U.S. stock market overnight despite renewed geopolitical concerns following the latest ballistic missile launch of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Shares opened higher Wednesday tracking gains in the U.S. stock market overnight as Wall Street cheered on strong sales in the holiday season while signs of progress in the U.S. tax reform raised market expectations for higher corporate earnings and economic growth.
According to U.S. media reports, the U.S. Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday approved the Republican tax bill to overhaul the U.S. tax code, bringing the upper chamber closer to a floor vote.
Gains, however, were capped by renewed geopolitical concerns of market players after the DPRK fired a missile early Wednesday which flew for about 53 minutes and fell into the Sea of Japan.
The DPRK said later that the missile was a new intercontinental ballistic missile that is capable of hitting anywhere on the U.S. mainland.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended up 110.96 points, or 0.49 percent, from Tuesday at 22,597.20.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 14.08 points, or 0.79 percent, higher at 1,786.15.
Among all shares listed on the First Section, advancing issues outnumbered decliners 1,501 to 477, with 59 ending the day unchanged.
Gainers were led by iron and steel, insurance and bank issues while decliners were led by electric machinery and coal and oil products issues.
Bank issues were among the leading gainers after U.S. Federal Reserve chair nominee Jerome Powell said on Tuesday that the current regulatory rules on financial institutions are tough enough and he supported easing regulatory burdens on some institutions.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group advanced 21.10 yen, or 2.8 percent, to 784.50 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group rose 75 yen, or 1.7 percent, to 4,504 yen.
On the main section, 1,701.83 million shares changed hands, rising from Tuesday's volume of 1,482.18 million shares.
The turnover on the third trading day of the week came to around 2,868.3 billion yen (25.72 billion U.S. dollars).
