(Updates prices, adds details on Japan tariffs, earnings and

comment)

By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Topix index climbed

above the key psychological mark of 3,000 points for the first

time on Friday, underpinned by clarity over U.S. tariffs and a

streak of strong earnings reports.

Automakers rallied, with Toyota ( TM ) climbing more than

3%.

SoftBank Group rose nearly 11% after the technology

investor reported a swing back to profit in the first quarter.

"We are at just past the peak of the earnings season, and

the strong results so far are a big factor contributing to

overall gains for Japanese stocks," said Maki Sawada, an

equities strategist at Nomura Securities.

The U.S. government on Thursday promised to amend a

presidential executive order to remove overlapping tariffs on

Japanese goods, Tokyo's trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said.

U.S. officials will lower auto tariffs to 15% from 27.5%, in

line with the agreement on trade reached by the two countries

last month.

The broad Topix was up 1.6%, as of 0200 GMT, to

touch a record peak of 3,035.24.

The more tech-focused Nikkei share average rose 2.1%

to 41,924.41, its highest point since July 25.

SoftBank led gains on the Nikkei, contributing about 271

points to the index's 783-point rally.

Shares of Sony Group ( SONY ) gained more than 4%, adding to

its earnings-fuelled 4.1% advance from Thursday.

Among automakers, those most reliant on the U.S. market led

the gains, with Mazda ( MZDAF ) jumping 4.1% and Subaru

rising 3.6%.