Japan shares crawl higher as Recruit Holdings offsets chip weakness

TOKYO: Japanese shares inched up in see-saw trade on Friday as a surge in Recruit Holdings on its upbeat outlook outweighed weakness in chip stocks that tracked US peers lower.

The Nikkei share average edged 0.02% higher to 28,011.07 by 0211 GMT, while the broader Topix rose 0.20% to 1,957.48. The Nikkei was on track for a second straight weekly gain.

"The US markets were not necessarily strong overnight as they fell into negative territory during the session. And weakness in US chip shares weighed on investor sentiment today," said Kentaro Hayashi, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.

"But defensive shares are solid, particularly Recruit Holdings in the services sector."

Japanese shares gain on Wall Street strength, robust earnings

Recruit Holdings, an index heavyweight, surged 11.5% after the staffing and publishing firm's revised annual profit forecast beat analysts' consensus.

JFE Holdings rose 5.95% after the steelmaker nearly doubled its annual net profit forecast.

However, chip-making equipment manufacturers Tokyo Electron and Advantest lost 1.06% and 3.29%, respectively, as the Philadelphia semiconductor index fell for a sixth straight session on Thursday.

Air and ground transport sectors fell the most among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry subindexes as the pandemic in Japan deepens.

The country's top health adviser requested stricter emergency measures for about two weeks to tackle a spike in COVID-19 cases in Tokyo and other areas.

A few days after the end of the Tokyo Olympics, the capital reported 4,989 new daily cases on Thursday, down slightly from a record 5,042 last week.

Toshiba fell 4.37% despite returning profitable as the scandal-hit conglomerate said it has been working to select candidates for a permanent CEO and board chairman.