Tokyo stocks surge more than 3% in afternoon trade

Tokyo shares soared over 3.0 percent Friday afternoon, extending gains from a day earlier after strong US data sent Wall Street flying and fuelled a global rally that saw a surge in Chinese equities. The Nikkei-225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 3.33 percent, or 618.24 points, to 19,192.68 with about an hour to go before the market closes. The Topix index of all first section shares jumped 3.65 percent, or 54.77 points, to 1,555.18. Tokyo's rise came as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.27 percent Thursday, after the Commerce Department reported that US gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 3.7 percent in the second quarter, much higher than the 2.3 percent initially estimated. "Amid concerns over the outlook of the global economy, the sound US GDP growth is supporting the market," Nobuyuki Fujimoto, senior market analyst at SBI Securities, told Bloomberg News. Tokyo's gains accelerated in the afternoon as "some investors tried push the upside a bit further", said Toshihiko Matsuno, research head at SMBC Friend Securities. Shanghai stocks were up 1.93 percent at midday on Friday, extending gains after China cut interest rates earlier in the week and amid rises in global markets following days of turmoil.