Sept 9 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks gained on Friday, building on a rally from the previous day, even as investors digested hawkish remarks from policymakers that firmly established views of aggressive rate hikes to tame inflation.
Japan's Nikkei share average closed 0.53% higher at 28,214.75. The benchmark index started trading 0.5% up and stayed above the psychological barrier of 28,000 throughout the day.
The Nikkei gained 2.04% in total this week, mostly because of a 2.315% rally on Thursday. The index was flat the first two days of the week and lost 0.71% on Wednesday.
The broader Topix index rose 0.40% to close the week 1.83% higher.
"U.S. stock futures have been solid after hours, and there hasn't been any collapse," a market participant at a domestic securities firm said, despite the previous day's rally pointing to possible position adjustments ahead of the weekend.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday the U.S. central bank was "strongly committed" to controlling inflation, while the European Central Bank also signalled further hikes to fight inflation.
Of the Nikkei's 225 constituents, 176 posted gains, 46 dropped, and three traded flat on Friday.
Every sector on the Nikkei rose overall. Healthcare was one of the best performing sectors, tracking a strong showing on Wall Street overnight.
Online healthcare company M3 Inc gained 2.74% and was the second biggest contributor to the Nikkei behind semiconductor company Tokyo Electron. Pharmaceuticals company Shionogi & Co Ltd rose 2.78% and Chugai Pharmaceutical Co Ltd was up 1.72%.
Air conditioner manufacturer Daikin Industries Ltd was the biggest laggard on the Nikkei with a 0.9% drop.
Passenger transportation companies were among the worst performers. East Japan Railway Co made the biggest individual loss at 1.18%, while Central Japan Railway Co and airline ANA Holdings Inc were close behind, both falling 0.98%. (Reporting by Sam Byford and Tokyo markets team; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
