Nikkei ends firm, near to 20,000, on foreign buying hopes

TOKYO, April 9 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei rose to a fresh 15-year high on Thursday, getting in sight of 20,000, on hopes that foreigners will continue to buy Japanese stocks due to optimism about an economic recovery and strong corporate profits.

The Nikkei 225 ended 0.8 percent higher at 19,937.72, the highest closing level since April 2000.

The broader Topix gained 0.4 percent to 1,594.19 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 advanced 0.4 percent to 14,510.26.

Japanese finance ministry data showed foreign investors bought a net 1.036 trillion yen ($ 8.61 billion) of Japanese shares last week, their biggest net buying since early April 2013.

($ 1 = 120.2700 yen) (Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Alan Raybould)