Japanese shares could top the 10,000 mark for the first time in seven months next week as exporters are lifted by the ongoing weakness of the yen against the dollar, analysts said Friday.
In the week to March 2, the Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 1.34 percent, or 129.65 points, to 9,777.03, with the broader Topix index of all first-section issues up 0.42 percent, or 3.53 points, at 837.82.
The Nikkei could 10,000 for the first time since early August if the US currency approaches 82 yen, SMBC Friend Securities general manager of investment and research Fumiyuki Nakanishi told Dow Jones Newswires.
The dollar was changing hands at 81.43 yen in Friday afternoon trade in Tokyo against 81.10 yen late Thursday in New York. A weaker yen, which makes Japanese products cheaper overseas and helps boost repatriated profits, is expected to continue supporting exporters next week, said Daisuke Uno, chief market strategist of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
But Uno also said Tokyo trade will remain somewhat directionless without clear incentives in the global economy. "The Nikkei will probably trade in the range of about 150 points higher or lower of today's closing level," he said. "The index is edging up, but I doubt good economic fundamentals are behind the movement."
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