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| - Tokyo shares closed higher on Friday as investors cheered news that Washington had reached an agreement over massive infrastructure spending plans. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.66 percent, or 190.95 points, to 29,066.18 while the broader Topix index added 0.80 percent, or 15.55 points, to 1,962.65. Global shares soared the previous day as US President Joe Biden announced that he and a bipartisan group of lawmakers reached an agreement on huge plans to upgrade America's roads, bridges and broadband, among other items. The news lifted New York shares, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq marking new record finishes. "The infrastructure news helped improve market sentiment in Tokyo, too," said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities. "The recent acceleration of vaccinations in Japan is also positive news," Horiuchi told AFP. Tokyo investors are turning their focus to Japan's business sentiment, which will be released next week in the form of the Bank of Japan's "Tankan" survey. "After the third state of emergency, business sentiment is expected to vary among manufacturers and non-manufacturers," Okasan Online Securities said in a note. "Still, international progress in vaccination efforts should help brighten their outlook," it added. The dollar stood at 110.83 yen in Asian afternoon trade, virtually unchanged from New York overnight. Among major shares, Panasonic surged 4.92 percent to 1,309 yen after it said it had sold its entire stake in key battery customer Tesla last fiscal year, netting around $3.6 billion. Mitsubishi Motors jumped 3.34 percent to 309 yen after a newspaper said the carmaker plans to introduce low-cost electric vehicles. But Toshiba lost 0.61 percent to 4,815 yen after its shareholders rejected the reappointment of the board chair in a rebuke to management after revelations of attempts to sway voting on activist investor proposals. Toshiba shares may face selling pressure for now "as investors are concerned about uncertainty over Toshiba's corporate governance," Horiuchi said. si/sah/jfx
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