TOKYO, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index closed marginally higher Friday in choppy trade despite early selling on the yen's firmness and concerns over a data falsification scandal involving Mitsubishi Materials Corp.
Speculation over possible stock purchases by the Bank of Japan lifted market sentiment in later trade, brokers here said.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 27.70 points, or 0.12 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 22,550.85.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, gained 3.48 points, or 0.20 percent, to finish at 1,780.56.
Market strategists said that sentiment was dented in early trade on the yen's rise against the U.S. dollar following expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike interest rates next year at a slower pace than initially thought.
They said the market mood was also soured by the latest scandal to hit Japan's manufacturing industry, involving Mitsubishi Materials Corp.
The firm admitted on Thursday that three of its subsidiaries had falsified specification data for products used in industries spanning automotive to defense, compounding market concerns for Japan's quality control assurance and corporate governance in the manufacturing sector.
The latest scandal served as an overall negative cue and dragged automotive issues lower in particular, brokers said.
Mitsubishi Materials tumbled 8.1 percent to 3,760 yen by the close, having plummeted 11 percent in earlier trade.
The market got a boost in later trade, strategists here said, however, on expectations for the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) purchases of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Retail, chemical, and information and communication-linked shares comprised those that advanced the most by the close of play, and rising stocks beat falling ones by 1,157 to 781, on the First section, with 100 ending the day unchanged.
On the main section on Friday, 1,329.64 million shares changed hands, dropping from Wednesday's volume of 1,603.39 million shares.
The turnover on the final trading day of the week came to 2,399.6 billion yen (21.52 billion U.S. dollars).
Markets were closed on Thursday for a national holiday.
