Tokyo: Tokyo stocks ended higher, albeit only moderately, on Tuesday, with investors avoiding active trading ahead of key events next week.

The Nikkei average of 225 selected issues listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime section climbed 102.63 points, or 0.32 pct, to finish at 32,493.89.

The broader TOPIX index ended 13.18 points, or 0.59 pct, higher at 2,252.28.

The market was closed Monday for a national holiday.

Stocks got off to a strong start following the higher finishes of all three key U.S. market gauges Monday, with semiconductor-related and other tech shares especially buoyed by the climbs of their Wall Street peers reflecting Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s remarks showing an optimistic view of the U.S. economy.

After rising more than 300 points, however, the Nikkei gave up the gains due to profit-taking and slipped to around Friday’s closing in the afternoon.

Stocks were also weighed by the weakness of Hong Kong and other Asian markets.

“Amid a dearth of significant trading factors, investors could not muster the momentum to push stocks higher,” said Kazuo Kamitani, strategist at Nomura Securities Co.

“Market players were keen to wait on the sidelines ahead of policy-setting meetings of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan next week,” Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan Inc., noted.

Brokers said that the full-fledged start of Japanese firms’ releases of April-June earnings next week also kept players from trading actively.

On the Prime section, gainers outnumbered decliners 1,300 to 478 while 57 issues were flat. Volume fell to 1,204 million shares from Friday’s 1,336 million shares.

JIJI Press