Tokyo shares gain as Evergrande makes interest payment

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks advanced Friday as investors cheered news that the troubled Chinese property giant Evergrande had made a key interest payment.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.34 percent or 96.27 points to 28,804.85, a weekly loss of 0.91 percent.

The broader Topix index edged up 0.07 percent or 1.42 points to 2,002.23. Over the week, it declined 1.07 percent.

The dollar stood at 113.94 yen against 114.02 yen in New York late Thursday.

The Nikkei began the day in the red as the rise of the yen weighed on the market despite the S&P 500 finishing at a new record overnight with solid earnings lifting sentiment.

Rising US bond yields and the yen's appreciation weighed on exporters, but the headline index quickly emerged above water as bargain-hunters returned to the market.

"News that Evergrande made interest payments on US dollar-denominated bonds improved investor sentiment," SMBC Nikko Securities said in a note.

Tokyo stocks close higher on tech rallies

Major semiconductor shares also firmed on strong earnings announcements from the sector, the brokerage added.

Investors were monitoring campaigning for Japan's October 31 national election and refrained from pushing the Nikkei to a higher range, analysts said.

Nissan gave up 1.39 percent to 587.2 yen after a report said the carmaker would reduce production by 30 percent from its initial plans in October and November.

Contacted by AFP, a company spokeswoman said: "We acknowledge that the semiconductor supply shortage is still in a difficult situation.

"We plan to give an update on the situation in our second-quarter financial results announcement in November."

Chipmaker Kyocera added 0.39 percent to 6,702 yen. Its rival Rohm firmed 1.90 percent to 10,210 yen.

Disco, a major producer of cutting tools to create semiconductors, roared 2.99 percent to 31,000 yen. Advantest, producer of testing kits for semiconductors, rose 1.79 percent to 9,110.

Toshiba gave up 0.72 percent to 4,825 yen after a report that merger talks between chip maker Kioxia -- sold by Toshiba in 2018 to a consortium led by US investment firm Bain Capital -- and Western Digital had stalled.

SoftBank Group added 0.55 percent at 6,610 yen after the office-sharing company WeWork, which the Japanese investment giant owns a large stake in, made a strong Wall Street debut, and after it said its half-year dividend was unchanged at 22 yen.