Japan's Nikkei average hit its highest close in more than five years today as investors bought technology shares after rises in their US counterparts.
Buying also lifted several stocks that have been behind a rally in the past few weeks, such as mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo and retailer Daiei, encouraged by bullish views on the Japanese economy and the stock market.
The Nikkei was up 0.39 per cent or 63.83 points at 16,425.37, marking its highest close since September 2000 for the second session in a row.
The broader TOPIX index was up 0.72 per cent at 1,685.15, its best finish since May 2000.
"The leaders in the last rally, such as banks and real estate stocks, are entering a correction. But stocks which were outside investors' radar in December, such as tech stocks and DoCoMo, are catching up," said Yusuke Sakai, head of sales trading at Mizuho Securities.
The real estate sector subindex IRLTY fell 0.9 per cent, however, after comments by UBS on a recent report by business daily Nihon Keizaithat said the central bank intended to tighten its monitoring of real estate loans.
Trade was the most active in three weeks, with 2.84 billion shares changing hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section.