Japan's Nikkei stock index closed more than 3% higher on October 1, driven by gains in heavily weighted technology shares, Kyodo News reported on October 1.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average finished 2,203.00 points, or 3.30%, higher at 68,956.72, while the broader Topix index added 23.33 points, or 0.57%, to end at 4,131.98. The split performance showed how narrowly the rally was concentrated, with the Topix spending much of the morning in negative territory after rising nearly 2% the previous day.

Electrical appliance, precision instrument and nonferrous metal issues led the advance on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's top-tier Prime Market.

The trigger came from abroad. US chipmaker Micron Technology released strong earnings for the June-August quarter, showing a rapid expansion in sales.

"The favorable contents reassured" investors, said Toshikazu Horiuchi, equity strategist at IwaiCosmo Securities, noting that "Overseas investors were attracted to the (shares of) companies related (to Micron) as some people pointed out that they are bargain-priced."

Buying accelerated in the afternoon session as the pace of the Nikkei's climb drew in further purchases, eventually pulling the Topix into positive territory as well. Dealers said risk appetite broadened as the headline index surged.

"But I did not expect (the market) to rise this much," Horiuchi said.

In currency trading, the US dollar strengthened to the lower JPY158 range at one point after the Bank of Japan published a summary of opinions from its September policy meeting, which traders said the market read as less hawkish than anticipated. At 5 p.m. in Tokyo, the dollar fetched JPY158.37-40, compared with JPY157.39-49 in New York and JPY156.90-92 in Tokyo late the previous day.

The euro was quoted at $1.1304-1305 and JPY179.04-08, against $1.1325-1335 and JPY178.32-42 in New York and $1.1345-1346 and JPY178.01-05 in Tokyo late in the previous afternoon.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond rose 0.035 percentage point from the previous close to 3.095%, tracking increases in US Treasury yields amid inflation concerns.