Adds comments, updates with closing prices
TOKYO, May 29 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei ended trade on Thursday at the highest point in more than two weeks after a U.S. court blocked President Donald Trump's tariffs from going into effect, while a weaker yen and a rally in chip-related stocks also supported the benchmark index.
The Nikkei climbed 1.88% to 38,432.98, its highest close since May 13.
The broader Topix .TOPX rose 1.53% to 2,812.02.
The Manhattan-based Court of International Trade ruled that Trump overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from nations that sell more to the United States than they buy.
"The news was positive as Trump's tariff plans are a headwind for the corporate and economic outlook," said Kentaro Hayashi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.
"And the yen weakened on the news, which drove a rally in the auto sector," he said.
The U.S. dollar surged following the court decision, pushing the yen to fall as low as 146.26 against the greenback. A weaker yen boosts the value of overseas revenues.
Chip-related shares jumped after Nvidia NVDA.O beat quarterly sales expectations, with Advantest 6857.T and Tokyo Electron 8035.T rising 5.35% and 4.25%, respectively.
Cable maker Fujikura 5803.T, a gauge for AI investments, jumped 5.54%. It lifted the nonferrous metals sector .INFRO.T by 5.8%, making it the top performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry sub-indexes.
Shares of Toyota Motor 7203.T rose nearly 4%, helping lift the auto and auto parts sector .ITEQP.T by 3.39%.
Hino Motors 7205.T and Nissan Motor 7201.T jumped nearly 6% each.
On the other hand, toy maker Bandai Namco Holdings 7832.T fell 2.96% to drag the Nikkei the most.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Varun H K)
((junko.fujita@thomsonreuters.com;))