Japan's Nikkei hits two-week high, Toyota rises for third day

TOKYO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose to a two-week high on Friday as a weak yen lifted exporters, with Toyota Motor gaining for a third straight session.

The Nikkei .N225 had risen 1.28% to 40,074.56, crossing the 40,000 level for the first time since Dec. 12.

The broader Topix .TOPX was up 1% at 2,794.54.

"First of all, there were few sellers as most investors who wanted to sell stocks have already completed the sell-off. And Japanese stocks seem cheap relative to U.S. stocks, so some adjusted their positions," said Jun Morita, general manager of the research department at Chibagin Asset Management.

"And the gains of Toyota and Sony have lifted overall sentiment. Toyota is still undervalued and that boosted appetite for the shares."

Toyota Motor 7203.T advanced 2.1%, becoming the biggest source for the Topix's gain. The shares are set to rise for a third session after local media reported this week the automaker would double its return on equity target to 20% by around 2030.

The auto sector .ITEQP.T rose 1.54% to become the second-best performer among the 33 industry sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).

Airlines .IAIR.T rose 1.56%.

Among individual stocks, Sony Group 6758.T rose 1.73%.

Uniqlo-brand owner Fast Retailing 9983.T rose 1.8%, giving the biggest boost to the Nikkei. Chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron 8035.T rose 1.28%.

Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory, said the momentum was strong as retail investors' sales were done by Thursday, the last day for the delivery of stocks for 2024.

Among other stocks, Makino Milling Machine 6135.T was untraded but is set to rise to a daily limit after manufacturing giant Nidec 6594.T said it planned to launch a tender offer to take Makino private.

Of more than 1,600 stocks trading on the TSE's prime market, 76% rose and 20% fell, with 2% flat.

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

((junko.fujita@thomsonreuters.com;))