Japan's Topix tops 3,000 for first time on tariff clarity; SoftBank soars
Automakers rallied, with Toyota (7203.T), opens new tab climbing more than 3%.
SoftBank Group (9984.T), opens new tab rose nearly 11% after the technology investor reported a swing back to profit in the first quarter.
"We are at just past the peak of the earnings season, and the strong results so far are a big factor contributing to overall gains for Japanese stocks," said Maki Sawada, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.
The U.S. government on Thursday promised to amend a presidential executive order to remove overlapping tariffs on Japanese goods, Tokyo's trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said.
U.S. officials will lower auto tariffs to 15% from 27.5%, in line with the agreement on trade reached by the two countries last month.
The broad Topix (.TOPX), opens new tab was up 1.6%, as of 0200 GMT, to touch a record peak of 3,035.24.
The more tech-focused Nikkei share average (.N225), opens new tab rose 2.1% to 41,924.41, its highest point since July 25.
SoftBank led gains on the Nikkei, contributing about 271 points to the index's 783-point rally.
Shares of Sony Group (6758.T), opens new tab gained more than 4%, adding to its earnings-fuelled 4.1% advance from Thursday.
Among automakers, those most reliant on the U.S. market led the gains, with Mazda (7261.T), opens new tab jumping 4.1% and Subaru (7270.T), opens new tab rising 3.6%.
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