TOKYO, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks added to the previous day's gains as a solid performance on Wall Street overnight bolstered investor sentiment Friday, further buoyed by broader Asian stocks rising, but nerves about Sunday's upper house election sent some players to the sidelines amid political uncertainty in Japan.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 49.58 points, or 0.52 percent, to 9,585.32, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 0.19 point, or 0. 02 percent, to close the week at 861.21.
Analysts said that a slew of demotivating economic data coming out of the U.S. has caused concerns about the pace of the global economic recovery and sparked fears about a possible double-dip recession.
However positive employment data released by the U.S. Labor department coupled with high expectations for positive U.S. corporate earnings results due forthwith has begun to allay such concerns, brokers said.
The number of U.S. citizens applying for unemployment benefits decreased by 21,000 in the week ended July 3 to 454,000, the U.S. Labor Department figures showed and brokers said this was interpreted by investors as evidence the U.S. economy is back on track and pessimism about the outlook for the global economy is receding.
