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By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO, March 9 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average hit a 6-1/2-month high on Thursday, extending gains for a fifth straight session, as a less-hawkish Federal Reserve outlook and expectations for no imminent change to Bank of Japan stimulus buoyed risk sentiment.
Overnight strength among U.S. technology shares lifted Japanese peers, while the yen's decline to a multi-month low provided broader support even as the currency recouped some losses in the current session.
Real estate and financial shares, which usually move in opposite directions based on changes in bond yields, jointly posted gains on the Nikkei as investors favoured high dividend-yield stocks before the end of Japan's fiscal year this month.
The Nikkei ended the day 0.63% higher at 28,623.15. Earlier in the session, the index scaled 28,734.79, its highest since Aug. 26, 2022.
Ahead of big risk events on Friday, including crucial non-farm payrolls figures in the United States and BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's last policy decision before retirement, some investors were keen to start locking in profit.
But the rally was still broad, with 186 of the Nikkei's 225 components rising, while 31 fell and eight were flat.
Convenience store operator Seven & i Holdings topped the leaderboard with a 4.09% surge following media reports that it was shutting some of its Ito Yokado supermarket locations.
Lender Resona Holdings came close with a nearly 4% jump. Chipmaking equipment giant Tokyo Electron was the index's biggest support, contributing 20.5 points with a 1.25% rise.
The Topix gained 0.97% to 2,071.09, not far from the day's high of 2,071.60, the strongest since September 2021.
On his second day of testimony to Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed his message from Tuesday of higher interest rates at a potentially faster pace, but stressed that a policy decision later this month would hinge on economic data.
"Powell's main scenario is still for a 25 basis-point hike, so he wanted to send a warning to the market - that's my interpretation," said Kenji Abe, an equity strategist at Daiwa Securities.
Meanwhile, "there's not much rationale to justify BOJ action this week", with inflationary pressures still relatively subdued and time-sensitive just before the end of the fiscal year, Abe said.
(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)