Tokyo investors will head into the last session of 2013 next week with the benchmark Nikkei index set to log its best annual return in four decades.
Monday's session wraps up trading for the year with the index already surging over 50 percent, outstripping other major markets and on track for its best annual performance since 1972.
Japanese markets are closed the rest of the week for national holidays and re-open on January 6.
“The Nikkei is likely to remain buoyant as market players, particularly individual investors, look for bargains,” said Kenzaburo Suwa, strategist at Okasan Securities.
“The yen is also expected to stay weak, which will sustain the current buying momentum,” he added.
On Friday the Nikkei edged up 0.03 percent to 16,178.94, a fresh six-year high, as late buying pushed the index back into positive territory after it spent much of the day in the red. It added 1.94 percent over the week.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares finished 0.84 percent higher to 1,290.07. It ended the week up 2.25 percent.
Earlier in the session, the Nikkei lost ground due to profit taking as investors largely discounted a mixed bag of Japanese economic data.
But late buying pushed the index back into positive territory, with the market winning support from a strong dollar, which briefly shot past the 105 yen mark, its highest since October 2008. The level compared with 104.82 yen in New York Thursday.
A weaker yen tends to boost shares of Japanese exporters because it makes their products relatively cheaper and boosts competitiveness overseas.
“A strong dollar will offer a tailwind to exporters, raising expectations for improved earnings,” Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equities at SMBC Nikko Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
In share trading, Toyota rose 0.78 percent to 6,390 yen and Canon was up 0.15 percent to 3,300 yen while Sony slipped 0.66 percent to 1,785 yen.
Uniqlo clothing chain operator Fast Retailing fell 1.70 percent to 43,300 yen.
Takeda Pharmaceutical dropped 5.19 percent to 4,835 yen after the company said it had decided to stop developing a new type 2 diabetes treatment due to liver safety concerns.
On Thursday, US shares rallied on the back of upbeat weekly jobless claims data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.75 percent to 16,479.88, finishing at a record high for the sixth straight session. The S&P 500, closing at a record high for the fourth straight session, added 0.47 percent to 1,842.02. - AFP