TOKYO, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index closed higher Monday as eased concerns over the U.S. labor market spurred buying, although gains were capped by a lack of fresh cues.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 115.35 points, or 0.42 percent, from Friday to close the day at 27,633.66.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, gained 11.09 points, or 0.56 percent, to finish at 1,976.53.
Local brokers said that while key U.S. employment data released Friday was in line with median market expectations, the solid data added to concerns the U.S. Federal Reserve could continue with its rate hike policy, despite the risk of an economic recession.
"Japanese equities rose on expectations that the U.S. labor market will remain firm," Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management, was quoted as saying.
He said that investors opted not to chase the market's upside amid a lack of fresh trading cues, however.
Other analysts said that aside from March's non-farm payroll data, a slew of downbeat U.S. economic data still weighed on sentiment here, with investors keenly eyeing the Fed's next moves, as a halt in rate hikes could limit economic damage, but the world's largest economy is still contending with inflationary pressure.
They highlighted that as major global markets have been closed for a long weekend, the reaction to the latest U.S. employment data and its implications remains to be seen.
Amid ongoing concerns, however, Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, said that investors sought undervalued shares as relatively safe bets in the short term.
"A wide range of shares were sought by foreign investors with dollar holdings, as a weaker yen makes Japanese stocks look undervalued," Suzuki said.
Notable gainers included exporters, with Hitachi rising 1.4 percent, while Nissan Motor added 0.8 percent.
Nintendo was a notable winner, climbing 4.0 percent, as an animated film based on its Super Mario Bros. games broke global box office records for an animated film.
By the close of play, marine transportation, mining and rubber product issues comprised those that gained the most.
The turnover on the first trading day of the week came to 1,911.41 billion yen (14.45 billion U.S. dollars). ■