The Nikkei 225 index of Japanese stocks climbed to its highest close in 15 months on Wednesday afternoon, pushed up by a further batch of strong quarterly earnings results.

The stock average closed up 0.35 per cent at 11,981.80, after briefly climbing above 12,000 for the first time since April 2004. The broader Topix closed 0.2 per cent higher at 1,212.02.