Japan's Nikkei rose on Friday after three straight sessions of falls, tracking an overnight Wall Street rally, although gains were limited as investors started selling stocks when the benchmark index approached the 27,000 psychological level.

The Nikkei share average gained 0.63% to 26,772.84 by the midday break, adding 0.13% so far in the week. The broader Topix climbed 0.41% to 1,885.23 and was on course to post a weekly gain of 0.42%.

Wall Street closed sharply higher overnight after optimistic retail earnings outlooks and waning concerns about overly aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve put investors in a buying mood.

"Wall Street's strong finish lifted Japanese markets, but investors sold shares as soon as the Nikkei got close to the 27,000 level to book profits," said Ikuo Mitsui, a fund manager at Aizawa Securities.

"They were concerns about risks stemming from high U.S. inflation and its effect on interest rates."

Nippon Yusen surged 7.34% and was the top gainer on the Nikkei after the shipping firm announced a stock-split.

The shipping sector jumped 5.19% and was the top gainer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry sub-indexes.

Shares related to inbound tourism rose as Japan eases its border control to have more tourists.

Department store chains J.Front Retailing and Takashimaya rose 3.18% and 3.08%, respectively.

There were 140 advancers on the Nikkei index against 80 decliners.

The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board was 0.62 billion, compared with the average 1.26 billion in the past 30 days. (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)