Tokyo stocks close higher, Takata surges on US deal  

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended a seesaw session in positive territory Friday but investors remain on edge over the crisis engulfing Donald Trump's presidency, while Takata surged more than 20 percent following a legal settlement linked to its deadly airbag scandal.

Takata, at the centre of the industry's biggest safety recall, closed at 475 yen ($4.30) after four automakers, including Toyota and BMW, agreed Thursday to pay $553 million to settle a US lawsuit over its defective airbags.

Takata's faulty safety devices have been blamed for at least 16 deaths globally and scores of injuries.

Japanese stocks rallied on bargain-buying at the start, after heavy selling Thursday fuelled by worries that Trump ongoing troubles could throw his economy-boosting agenda off track.

The main indexes drifted into negative territory before eking out modest gains by the close.

"Dip buying for companies with good earnings picked up," Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito said in a commentary.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index edged 0.19 percent, or 36.90 points, higher to close at 19,590.76. But it lost 1.47 percent over the week.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues tacked on 0.30 percent, or 4.72 points, to end at 1,559.73. It fell 1.33 percent from last Friday's close.

Next week, Japanese releases monthly trade and inflation data, while OPEC holds a meeting in Vienna where its members and Russia are expected to extend an agreement to cut oil production.

Sharp climbed 2.53 percent to 405 yen after it said it plans to put up as much as $1.0 billion in a $100 billion technology investment fund launched by telecoms giant SoftBank.

SoftBank rose 0.90 percent to 8,379 yen.

Staffing agency Recruit Holdings tumbled 8.00 percent to 5,750 yen on fears that Google's new US job search engine business will hurt its growth in that market.

Chinese restaurant chain Totenko jumped 5.29 percent to 179 yen after Tokyo's Ueno zoo said its female giant panda shows signs of pregnancy.

Totenko's main outlet is near the zoo with a rare baby panda likely to boost the number of visitors to the area.

The dollar weakened to 111.23 yen from 111.51 yen in New York.

The yen tends to be bought at times of market turmoil as a safe haven, but its strength is considered a negative factor for Japanese stocks as it can dent exporters' profitability.