Japanese stocks closed higher, supported by strong earnings and expectations

Japanese stocks closed higher on Friday, boosted by strong corporate earnings and the expectations of domestic companies, with Tokyo Electron leading the gains after raising its annual profit forecast.

The Nikkei index rose 0.31 percent to close at 27,670.98 points, after rising 0.8 percent earlier in the session. The index recorded a weekly gain of 0.59 percent.

The broader Topix index gave up some of its gains, to close up only 0.1 percent, at 1,986.96 points, bringing its weekly gains to 0.85 percent.

Chipmaking equipment Tokyo Electron rose 4.35% after the company raised its full-year operating profit forecast, becoming the biggest supporter of the Nikkei index. Its peer, Advantest, rose 1.5 percent.

Kobe Steel jumped 14.97% to be the best performer on the Nikkei index after announcing a record dividend for the full year.

The steel industry index rose 3.4 to become the best-performing sector among the 33 industry sub-indices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Dai Nippon Printing rose 13.81% after the printing company announced its largest share buyback to date.

The real estate sector fell 1.54 percent, affected by losses of 3.77 and 1.2 percent for Mitsubishi Real Estate and Mitsui Fudosan, respectively.