(Updates with closing prices)

TOKYO, April 4 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

ended higher on Thursday, as investors scooped up stocks

following a heavy profit-booking sell-off earlier this week as

the new financial year started.

The Nikkei rose 0.81% to close at 39,773.14, after

rising as much as 2% to cross 40,000.

The broader Topix ended 0.94% higher at 2,732.00.

"Investors scooped up stocks on dips as a series of

sell-offs related to profit-booking is over," said Naoki

Fujiwara, senior fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management.

"Their positive view on the Japanese stock market has not

changed so it was natural that there was a buying on dips."

Chip-related Socionext ( SOCNF ) surged 17.55% to a daily

limit high after Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities raised its

rating. Robot maker Fanuc ( FANUF ) rose 3.16% and technology

start-up investor SoftBank Group ( SFTBF ) climbed 1.07%.

The Nikkei has lost 4.6% from a record-high scaled on March

22 to the previous session's low.

The index hit successive record highs in March, after

crossing levels last seen in 1989 during the country's bubble

economy on Feb. 22.

There was a similar sell-off around this time in April 2023,

but it was not as drastic as this year, said Ryotaro Sawada,

senior analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.

Among individual stocks, Kao jumped 5.14%, after

Hong Kong-based activist investor Oasis Management said it would

start a campaign against the cosmetics firm to redefine its

brand portfolio and improve marketing.

Itochu ( ITOCF ) rallied for a second session, rising 0.68%

after the trading firm said on Wednesday it aimed to boost

profit to a record 880 billion yen from an estimated 800 billion

yen in the year just ended.

Itochu ( ITOCF ), in which Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A )

holds a minority stake, surged 6.4% in the previous

session.