TOKYO, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks advanced Wednesday, with the benchmark Nikkei stock index rising 1.71 percent on hopes an upcoming summit between European Union leaders will result in a resolute solution to the sovereign debt crisis in the region and serve to prevent the breakdown of the single currency bloc. Strategists here said that hopes were high that a summit on Thursday and Friday that will bring together European Union leaders in Brussels for a critical meeting, seen as an emergency measure to prevent the single currency, 17-member euro zone bloc from dissolving, will yield productive results. Standard & Poor's warning that it may make sweeping credit downgrades across the eurozone if the leaders fail to come up with a decisive plan has also been reinterpreted by analysts here as the catalyst the leaders may need to force a resolute action plan. In addition, recent remarks made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel about insisting on a greater centralized of eurozone control and the imposition of bans on economies who have already been bailed out, also inspired more confidence, analysts said. "There is an expectation in the market that Europe will advance measures to overcome the debt issues. "While there's a sense of expectation in the market, investors still want to see the results of meetings this week of the European Union and European Central Bank," said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. Hopes that the European Central Bank (ECB) will cut rates this week also added support, but some analysts took a more circumspect stance, believing that, on balance, the upcoming summit would be fruitless and the debt crisis in the eurozone would continue to rumble on. "Hope remains until the EU summit, even though it is very likely that the summit will turn into a disappointment," said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, general manager at SMBC Friend Securities Co. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 147.01 points from Tuesday to 8,722.17, marking a 1-month closing high, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 11.62 points, or 1.57 percent, to finish at 749.63. Shipping lines rose on news that Mitsui OSK Lines will share supertankers with lines in Denmark and Singapore to operate more efficient services and Mitsui OSK surged 11.2 percent to 288 yen. Nippon Yusen KK also found traction, rallying 7.9 percent to 192 yen, while rival Kawasaki Kisen leapt 7.3 percent to close at 147 yen. Key exporters were granted some relief as the yen's advance against the euro halted in afternoon trade and top-automaker Toyota Motor added 2.5 percent to 2,672 yen, while consumer electronics giant Sony Corp. jumped 5.9 percent to finish at 1,452 yen. Olympus Corp. was the day's notable decliner falling 5.2 percent to 1,128 yen after the Tokyo Stock Exchange opted to put the firm's stock on a watch list for possible delisting, regardless of whether it files requisite financial and earnings reports before a critical deadline. A third-party panel also recommending the firm pursue's legal actions against former executives for their involvement in covering up the firm's losses also caused some investors to dump the firm's stock. Olympus President, Shuichi Takayama, said Wednesday the entire board would step down to atone for the firm's 1.7 billion U.S. dollar cover up scandal, once the firm's latest earnings report has been submitted by the Dec. 14 deadline. Trading volume on Wednesday rose to 1.81 billion shares on the Tokyo Exchange's First Section, up from Tuesday's volume of 1.59 billion shares, with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones by 1,366 to 204.

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