TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average rose on Friday, as a weaker yen lifted sentiment, while concerns about trade tensions eased following a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Nikkei rose 0.5% to 37,741.61 but fell 1% for the week. The broader Topix climbed 0.47% to 2,769.33 while posting a 1.6% weekly loss.
“The trade talks seemed to have ended peacefully and that sent a positive sign to the market,” said Naoki Fujiwara, senior fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management.
On Thursday, Trump held a long-awaited phone call with Xi Jinping, in an effort to resolve trade disputes between the world’s two largest economies that have buffeted the global economy, and agreed to hold further discussions.
But caution ahead of the US non-farm payrolls report, due later in the day, capped gains, Fujiwara said.
The Nikkei got technical support ahead of the fixing of special quotation prices, used to set values on index options and futures, next week, said Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.
“Foreigners, who shorted the Nikkei futures, bought them back ahead of the fixing day, which also lifted the Nikkei index.”
The yen, which last traded down 0.3% at 144 per dollar, also supported local equities, Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager at the research department of Tachibana Securities, said. Chip-related heavyweights Tokyo Electron and Advantest rose 1.28% and 2.23%, respectively.
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