TOKYO: Japanese shares rose to a seven-week high on Thursday, with investors relieved that the United States did not make new trade demands at this week's summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump.Steelmakers and non-ferrous metal firms - some of the worst performers since Trump announced steel and aluminium tariffs - led the gains.The Nikkei ended Thursday up 0.15 per cent at 22,191.18 after going as high as 22,360.65, its highest since Feb.
28.There were 155 advancers on the Nikkei index against 68 decliners.The largest per centage gainers in the index were Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd, which was 7.8 per cent higher, followed by Pacific Metals Co Ltd, which gained 5.5 per cent and Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co Ltd, up by 4.6 per cent.Declining shares included Subaru Corp which lost 2.2 per cent after public broadcaster NHK reported allegations that there were hundreds of cases of mileage and emission data falsification at the automaker.The broader Topix inched up 0.03 per cent.