The key Nikkei stock index rose Monday to end at a fresh five-year, five-month high on buying prompted by the yen's fall against the dollar and recent strength on Wall Street.
Extending its winning streak to five trading days, the 225-issue Nikkei average rose 90.55 points, or 0.55 percent, to 16,551.23, its highest closing since Sept. 4, 2000.
The Topix index of all first section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 13.96 points, or 0.83 percent, to 1,704.28, ending above the 1,700 line for the first time since May 2, 2000.
Shares got off to a strong start and stayed firm for most of the day before gains were pared by a late bout of selling.
Referring to Tokyo shares' continued strength, Yutaka Miura, deputy head of the equity information division at Shinko Securities Co., said, "U.S. shares' gains on Friday and the yen's continued fall were major factors.
"There were also underlying expectations over upcoming earnings reports," he added.
After Sony's upward revisions to its earnings estimates for the current fiscal year through March helped boost Tokyo shares sharply Friday, investors are now keeping close tabs on upcoming earnings reports by other major companies to see whether there will be more such news.