TOKYO, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed sharply higher Friday, with the benchmark Nikkei stock index ending at its highest level in more than 30 years, as record closing highs on Wall Street overnight amid hopes for larger U.S. stimulus lifted investor sentiment.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 648.90 points, or 2.36 percent, from Thursday to close the day at 28,139.03, marking its highest closing level since Aug. 8, 1990.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, rose 28.64 points, or 1.57 percent, to finish at 1,854.94.

Global markets were propelled by incoming U.S. President Joe Biden's Democrats winning control of the Senate, clearing the way for his administration to enact large fiscal spending plans to help underpin the pandemic-hit economy, brokers said.

Such hopes for further U.S. stimulus sent Wall Street to record highs overnight and saw the market mood here brightened from the get-go.

"A broad range of issues drew buying as optimism grew that further stimulus under Mr. Biden will help economic growth," Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., was quoted as saying.

"The global stock market is expected to continue an upward trend towards Biden's inaugural ceremony on Jan. 20," said Fujito.

Masayuki Kichikawa, chief macro strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co., meanwhile, remarked, "We should expect more fiscal spending and more deficits under Biden."

By the close of play, rubber product, pulp and paper, and nonferrous metal-linked issues comprised those that gained the most.

Technology-oriented issues got a boost from their U.S. peers finding favor overnight, and Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. climbed 5 percent, while Daikin Industries Ltd. added 3.8 percent.

Chip testing equipment manufacturer Advantest jumped 4.7 percent, electronic components maker Taiyo Yuden advanced 5.5 percent, while semiconductor production equipment maker Tokyo Electron closed the day 3.9 percent higher.

Issues that rose outpaced those that fell by 1,725 to 384 on the First Section, while 77 ended the day unchanged.

On the main section on Friday, 1,389.16 million shares changed hands, dropping from Thursday's volume of 1,513.72 million shares.

The turnover on the final trading day of the week came to 3,119.00 billion yen (30.02 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem

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