Nikkei up 1.1% as battered stocks gain ground

Tokyo: The Nikkei share average rose 1.1% on Friday as investors picked up battered stocks such as Toyota Motor Corp on one of the last trading days of the year, but gains were capped by persistent concern over the economy.

The benchmark Nikkei added 96.27 points to 8,695.77 after rising 1% the previous day.

The broader Topix gained 0.7% to 841.47.

But in a sign of the impact of the economic downturn, JFE Holdings tumbled more than 6% after its unit JFE Steel stepped up planned output cuts in the face of plunging demand and became the first Japanese player to shut a blast furnace.