Retailing Shares: Points and Market Sources

retailing shares: On Thursday, the key market gauge rose 23.81 points. ; On the other hand, the Topix index of all first-section issues ended down 1.12 points, or 0.07 percent, at 1,605.40, after declining 1.14 points the previous day, according to The Japan Times. After moving sluggishly in early trading following a strong start, the Nikkei firmed gradually due mostly to hefty purchases of clothing chain Fast Retailing triggered by rosy earnings announced Thursday for the half ending in February, market sources said. The 225-issue average gained 159.18 points, or 0.73 percent, to close at 21,870.56 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, its highest finish since Dec. 5. The Nikkei maintained its strength in afternoon trading, bolstered mainly by continued buying of Fast Retailing shares, the sources said. Fast Retailing alone pushed up the Nikkei by about 160 points on a closing basis, a market source said. In the meantime, the Topix remained in negative territory for most of the session as buying was held in check ahead of the release of Japanese and U.S. corporate earnings next week, the sources said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.