TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei ended lower on Friday, after hitting a more than two-month high in the last session, as investors sold heavyweight chip-related and growth stocks that had gained but hopes for slower interest rate hikes globally capped declines.
The Nikkei fell 0.35% to close at 28,283.03 and gained 1.37% for the week. The broader Topix was down 0.04% to 2,018.00 but jumped 2.59% for the week.
“Investors sold shares for profit-taking today. That was seen in chip-related stocks, which were strong in the past few sessions,” said Shuji Hosoi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.
“Overall the market was supported by hopes for slower hikes of the ECB, which sent the Germany’s 10-year bond yields lower.”
Investors saw some dovish hints in the minutes from the European Central Bank’s most recent policy meeting, which was published Thursday, even as they showed policymakers’ fears that inflation might be becoming entrenched.
The Nikkei’s jump in the previous session was underpinned by hopes for a slower pace of interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Nikkei ends at over 2-month highs on hopes Fed slowdown hopes
In Japan, chip-related Tokyo Electron fell 0.78% after jumping 3.21% in the week, while Advantest slipped 0.96% after posting a 3.56% weekly gain.
Dentsu Group lost 2.74% after a report that Tokyo prosecutors searched the advertising agency and other firms in connection with possible bid-rigging for Tokyo Olympics test events.
Hub Co, which runs British style pubs, surged 12.71%, extending its gain after Japan made a stunning 2-1 upset over four-times champions Germany in their World Cup opener on Wednesday.
The utility sector rose 1.7% to become the top gainer among the 33 industry sub-indexes on the Tokyo bourse, with Tokyo Electric Power climbing 4.6%.
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