TOKYO: Japanese shares rose on Friday as a weaker yen boosted exporters including automakers and financials climbed amid a continued hunt for value stocks.
The Nikkei climbed 0.45% to 33,442.62 by the midday break and was set to wrap up the holiday-shortened week with a marginal loss.
The broader Topix rose 0.56% to 2,392.19 and was on course to rise 1.09% for the week.
“The market was led by exporters whose shares rose amid the yen’s weakness,” said Shuutarou Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.
“And, the Topix kept its momentum from the previous session as investors sought to buy shares with higher dividend payouts.”
The Japanese yen weakened against the dollar as investors tempered expectations of an early interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve in the wake of resilient labour market data.
A weaker yen inflates exporters’ earnings when repatriated from overseas.
Toyota Motor rose 2.07% to become the biggest boost for the Topix, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gained 2.02%. Trading firm Mitsubishi Corp rose 1.86%. Among sectors, brokerage and banking gained 2.82% and 2.16%, respectively.
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“Investors continued their hunt for shares that would be included in the portfolio of newly revised NISA programme,” said Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager at the research department at Tachibana Securities.
The government this month significantly overhauled the Nippon Individual Savings Account (NISA) programme, which exempts retail investors from paying capital gains taxes on holdings of stocks.
The Topix’s value share index jumped 1.14%, while growth shares inched down 0.02%.
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