TOKYO, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks finished slightly higher Friday as a slew of upbeat domestic earnings reports released the previous day fueled market sentiment, however, the uncertainties over possible outcomes of the general election on Oct. 31 limited gains.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average closed 72.60 points, or 0.25 percent, higher from Thursday at 28,892.69.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 1.52 points, or 0.08 percent, higher at 2,001.18.
Trading volume on the main section decreased to 1,564.98 million shares from Thursday's 2,212.79 million shares.
Due to news reports suggesting the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) might struggle to garner the majority in the upcoming House of Representatives election on Sunday, Tokyo stocks declined after the outset and mainly moved in negative territory in the morning.
However, the market reversed course and ended gaining in the afternoon, supported by the strong earnings reports released on Thursday. Some investors also bought the dips on battered stocks ahead of the weekend.
The ruling LDP lost one of two House of Councillors by-elections last weekend, which raised worries that the government under new Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida could be short-lived if the ruling LDP and its partner Komeito party lose too many seats.
Masahiro Yamaguchi, the head of investment research at SMBC Trust Bank, said, "The LDP led by Prime Minister Kishida needs to maintain a strong majority to preserve his political stability, which has become a high hurdle for the party," he added, "The results of the election will determine to what extent the party will be able to implement its policies."
That the third-quarter earnings of Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. failed to meet market expectations also dragged down the market sentiment, brokers said.
By the close of play, marine transportation, pulp and paper, and food sectors headed the increase. But declining issues outnumbered advancing ones 1,052 to 1,026 on the First Section, while 106 finished unchanged.
Sony Group on Thursday reported its earnings for the first fiscal half, which exceeded market expectations, and announced its intention to cooperate with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in building a chip plant in Japan. Its stock price rose 1.9 percent accordingly.
Fuji Electric surged 11.8 percent after releasing a strong earnings report and an upward revision of its profit forecast on Thursday.
However, Alps Alpine, a supplier for Apple, sank 6.4 percent as the firm revised its earnings forecast downward the previous day for the business year through March from its April estimate. Enditem
