Tokyo stocks closed higher on Thursday, in line with a worldwide rally, with traders encouraged by news of positive results in a trial for a drug to treat coronavirus. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 2.14 percent, or 422.50 points, to 20,193.69, while the broader Topix index added 1.03 percent, or 14.88 points, to 1,464.03. The gains came as traders returned from a one-day holiday when Gilead Sciences said that remdesivir had seen good early results in a large-scale US government trial. "Expectations for a drug to treat the novel coronavirus led to improvement in investor sentiment," Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito said in a commentary. Negative domestic factors including SoftBank Group announcing a further revision of its forecast net loss "have already been factored into the market", he added. The dollar fetched 106.46 yen in late Asian trade, against 106.66 yen in New York. Nintendo dropped 3.39 percent to 44,650 yen after the US International Trade Commission said it will investigate issues raised by US-based Gamevice, which alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act involving the firm's patent. SoftBank Group was up 0.49 percent at 4,633 yen despite revising down its full-year earnings forecast to a net loss of 900 billion yen ($8.5 billion) from a previous estimate of a 750 billion yen loss. Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing rallied 5.10 percent to 51,500 yen and Sony was up 2.49 percent at 6,932 yen. kh/sah/dan