Nikkei hits 3-wk closing high, techs and exporters up

Published: 14 Oct 2009 22:06:26 PST

TOKYO, Oct 15 - Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1.8 percent to a three-week closing high on Thursday, led by exporters and tech shares after robust U.S. company results and retail sales data boosted optimism about an economic recovery.

But the market came off earlier intraday highs in afternoon trade as the impact of the much better-than-expected results from JPMorgan Chase & Co and retail sales data, which boosted the Dow above 10,000 for the first time in a year, wore thin ahead of additional U.S. bank results on Thursday and Friday.

The benchmark Nikkei gained 178.44 points to 10,238.65, its highest close since Sept. 25. The broader Topix rose 1.1 percent.