TOKYO, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed higher Friday as sentiment was buoyed by Wall Street's upbeat lead and the yen's softer tone versus the U.S. dollar, although gains were capped by mounting concerns over surging COVID-19 cases in Japan's capital.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 76.24 points, or 0.27 percent, from Thursday to close the day at 28,783.28.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, gained 17.10 points, or 0.88 percent, to finish at 1,956.31.

Local brokers said that shares gained support from U.S. stocks advancing overnight and from the U.S. dollar gaining on the yen.

"The weaker yen is boosting shares in automakers, as well as other manufacturers, such as Sony, as investors expect they might raise their outlook," Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., was quoted as saying.

This was after data showed new applications for U.S. unemployment benefits had dropped significantly, ahead of the release later today of key U.S. non-farm payroll data for June, strategists added.

Some investors, dealers here said, opted to hit the sidelines, however, ahead of the U.S. jobs data, which could have a bearing on the direction of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy and interest rates.

"Investors were hesitant about making bold moves as a wait-and-see mood prevailed ahead of the release of U.S. non-farm payroll data for June later in the day," Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co., was quoted as saying.

Local traders also said that investors opted not to chase stocks higher owing to concerns over a spike in COVID-19 cases, particularly in Tokyo, just three weeks ahead of the planned start of the summer Olympics to be held in the Japanese capital.

The Tokyo Metropolitan government confirmed 660 new daily COVID-19 infections on Friday, with the latest tally coming on the heels of 673 cases reported the previous day.

Tokyo's seven-day rolling average has topped 500 for the third successive day, with the situation rising to highest on the government's four-tier COVID-19 alert scale.

As for the U.S. dollar-yen pairing, meanwhile, the dollar was quoted at 111.56-58 yen at 5 p.m. compared with 111.52-62 yen in New York and 111.27-28 yen at 5 p.m. on Thursday in Tokyo.

The euro, meanwhile, fetched 1.1824-1825 dollars and 131.91-95 yen against 1.1845-1855 dollars and 132.11-21 yen in New York and 1.1847-1849 dollars and 131.82-86 yen in late Thursday afternoon trade in Tokyo.

By the close of play, rubber product, mining, and pulp and paper-linked issues comprised those that advanced the most, and those that gained outpaced stocks that fell by 1,773 to 346 on the First Section, while 73 ended the day unchanged.

Among automakers advancing on the yen's retreat, Nissan Motor rose 3.6 percent, while Honda Motor gained 1.4 percent. Mitsubishi Motors, for its part, ended the day 3.2 percent higher.

Exporters also gaining on the yen's weakness included Hitachi, who added 2.1 percent and Sony, ending the day up 3.7 percent.

Bucking the upward trend, chip-related issued lost ground following the Philadelphia Semiconductor index dropping overnight, with Advantest losing 1.3 percent, while Tokyo Electron ended down 2.1 percent.

On the main section on Friday, 904.55 million shares changed hands, rising from Thursday's volume of 833.23 million shares.

The turnover on the final trading day of the week came to 2,073.38 billion yen (18.58 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem

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