Tokyo's Nikkei share average rose 0.28 percent on Thursday to finish just below a four-year closing high marked this week, on hopes Japan's economic recovery will keep luring foreign investors to the market. Several high-tech shares such as Advantest Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. gained ground after a fall in oil prices helped ease concerns that costly fuel would drive up corporate expenses and eat into consumer spending. A retreat in the yen was also a plus for exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp., which hit a one-year closing high. The Nikkei gained 34.25 points to 12,307.37, slightly below its four-year closing peak of 12,315.67 marked on Tuesday. The broader TOPIX index hit a fresh four-year closing high. It ended up 0.23 percent at 1,252.94, its best close since July 6, 2001. Government data released before the opening showed foreigners bought a net 721.9 billion yen ($6.58 billion) of Japanese shares last week, the highest since March 15-19, 2004. It was the ninth straight week of net buying, bringing the cumulative total in that period to just above 3 trillion yen. --More 1152 Local Time 0852 GMT
