The Japanese stock market ended higher again on Thursday. The continued advance on Wall Street, where new record levels were reached, and hopes for more domestic and international economic stimulus measures have fueled investor optimism.
The other major stock market indicators in the Asian region showed a mixed picture.
The Nikkei in Tokyo ended the day with a gain of 0.9 percent at 23,465.53 points. On a macroeconomic front, it appeared that activity in the Japanese services sector contracted again in August.
The contraction was almost the same as the decline in July. Heavyweight Fast Retailing was in demand among the companies. Clothing chain owner Uniqlo climbed nearly 4 percent on strong domestic sales in August.
Sky Perfect JSAT Holdings made a price jump of about 16 percent thanks to a surprising increase in the quarterly profit of the pay-TV provider.
The main index in Shanghai was down 0.4 percent in the meantime, and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong lost 0.6 percent.
Figures from market researchers Caixin and Markit showed that the growth of the extensive Chinese services sector stabilized last month. The Kospi in Seoul climbed 1.2 percent, and the Australian All Ordinaries in Sydney gained 0.7 percent.