The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei average ended higher on Friday and posted its biggest weekly gain in nearly two years, tracking overnight Wall Street gains, amid caution over a five-day rally in local markets.

The Nikkei share average advanced 0.65% to end at 26,827.43 and rose 6.62% for the week, the biggest weekly gain since May 2020.

The broader Topix rose 0.54% to 1,909.27 and rose 6.1% for the week, the biggest rise since early April 2020.

¡°The market rose sharply yesterday because investors who had shorted stocks bought them back. But with the long weekend ahead, they refrained from active bets,¡± said Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager at the research department at Tachibana Securities.

The Nikkei had jumped more than 3% on Thursday to post its highest close in more than two weeks.

¡°Today, both buyers and sellers were cautious,¡± Kamada said.

Technology investor SoftBank Group led the Nikkei¡¯s gains, rising 3.68%, followed by chipmaking equipment firm Tokyo Electron, rising 0.85%, and Uniqlo clothing shop owner Fast Retailing, which edged up 0.5%.

Toshiba Corp. rose 1.15% after an independent director said he would back a shareholder proposal at next week¡¯s extraordinary meeting that could pave the way for a potential buyout of the conglomerate.

Toyota fell 0.79% as the automaker said it would cut its global production target in April to 750,000 vehicles, down 150,000 from an earlier plan as a semiconductor shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic bite into its plans.

Toyota¡¯s declines dragged the index of auto and parts makers 0.88% lower, making the sector the worst performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange¡¯s 33 industry sub-indexes.

Airlines followed with a loss of 0.58%.