TOKYO, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks ended mixed Thursday as the U.S. exemptions on some steel tariffs from five countries including Japan added support, but shares were capped by Washington's ongoing moves of imposing higher tariffs and the European Union gearing up for retaliatory trade measures.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 137.61 points, or 0.61 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 22,693.04.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, shed 2.12 points, or 0.12 percent, to finish at 1,750.63.
Trade was choppy early on, brokers here said, but the market mood was brightened on news that the U.S. Commerce Department had exempted some steel and aluminum products from Japan and four other countries from U.S. tariffs.
Exporters gained traction in later trade as the yen retreated against the U.S. dollar and became attractive propositions following the sector tanking in Tuesday's sell-off, market analysts here said.
But gains were capped amid ongoing concerns about the U.S. unilaterally higher trade tariffs on imports and on the ramifications of the European Union's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports set to come into play on Friday, senior market strategists said.
By the close of play, machinery, information and communication, and service-linked issues gained the most, while paper, bank, and electric power and gas issues comprised those that led decliners.
Falling stocks beat rising ones by 1,303 to 713 on the First Section, while 75 ended the day unchanged, and on the main section on Thursday, 1,402.51 million shares changed hands, dropping from Wednesday's volume of 1,590.54 million shares.
The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week came to 2,500.2 billion yen (22.60 billion U.S. dollars).
