Japan's Nikkei share average ended higher on Thursday as investors scooped up stocks after losses in the previous session and also cheered U.S. lawmakers' vote to approve the debt ceiling bill to avoid a crippling default.

The Nikkei index rose 0.84% to close at 31,148.01, after opening lower. The index accelerated gains after the news that a divided U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.

The Nikkei kept that momentum towards the end even as it trimmed some losses during the session.

The broader Topix rose 0.88% to 2,149.29.

"The market fell yesterday and that was due to the adjustment of portfolios at the end of the month. Today, investors scooped up shares when prices fell," said Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities.

"The passing of the debt ceiling bill also gave relief to investors."

The Nikkei snapped a four-day winning streak in the previous session, and dropped the most since April 5 on profit-booking.

Among individual stocks, technology investor SoftBank Group Corp jumped 4.57% to become the top gainer on the Nikkei. Air-conditioner maker Daikin Industries Ltd rose 2.86% and chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron Ltd gained 1.21%.

Toyota Motor Corp rose 1.81% after the automaker said it would invest $2.1 billion more in its new U.S. battery plant in North Carolina in an effort to tap rising demand for electric vehicles.

Japan Steel Works Ltd rose 3.56% after SMBC Nikko Securities raised its target price for the machinery maker.

Among the Nikkei components, 143 stocks rose, 76 declined and six were flat.

 

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonia Cheema)