Japan's Topix tops 3,000 for first time on tariff clarity; SoftBank soars

By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Topix index climbed above the key psychological mark of 3,000 points for the first time on Friday, underpinned by clarity over U.S. tariffs and a streak of strong earnings reports.

Automakers rallied, with Toyota 7203.T climbing more than 3%.

SoftBank Group 9984.T rose nearly 11% after the technology investor reported a swing back to profit in the first quarter.

"We are at just past the peak of the earnings season, and the strong results so far are a big factor contributing to overall gains for Japanese stocks," said Maki Sawada, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.

The U.S. government on Thursday promised to amend a presidential executive order to remove overlapping tariffs on Japanese goods, Tokyo's trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said.

U.S. officials will lower auto tariffs to 15% from 27.5%, in line with the agreement on trade reached by the two countries last month.

The broad Topix .TOPX was up 1.6%, as of 0200 GMT, to touch a record peak of 3,035.24.

The more tech-focused Nikkei share average .N225 rose 2.1% to 41,924.41, its highest point since July 25.

SoftBank led gains on the Nikkei, contributing about 271 points to the index's 783-point rally.

Shares of Sony Group 6758.T gained more than 4%, adding to its earnings-fuelled 4.1% advance from Thursday.

Among automakers, those most reliant on the U.S. market led the gains, with Mazda 7261.T jumping 4.1% and Subaru 7270.T rising 3.6%.