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Tokyo's Nikkei stock average climbed 2.5% on Wednesday, its biggest one-day gain in four months, buoyed by a robust US retail sales report that soothed concerns the pace of growth in the world's largest economy was slowing.
The jump came after the Nikkei suffered its worst one-day decline in five months the prior day, with a 3.1% drop after a surprisingly weak US nonfarm payroll report last Friday. Monday was a public holiday in Japan.
The Nikkei ended 386.33 points higher at 15,808.73, breaking above its 25-day moving average of 15,702.72 and setting its sights on the five-day moving average of 15,828.99.
Still, the benchmark Nikkei is off to a slow start this year after rocketing 57% in 2013, energised by Tokyo's massive fiscal and monetary stimulus to revive the world's third-largest economy.
The broader Topix index advanced 2% to 1,294.52 on Wednesday, with 2.69 billion shares changing hands, the lowest since December 27.
The JPX-Nikkei Index 400, a new gauge comprised of firms with high return on equity and strong corporate governance to appeal to investors which started trading on January 6, gained 1.4% to 11,686.84.
