Tokyo shares closed higher Friday after a day of seesawing trade as US missile strikes against Syria fuelled geopolitical concerns. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gave up early gains after Donald Trump ordered an assault on a Syrian airfield in retaliation for a chemical attack with a sarin-like nerve agent that Washington blamed on President Bashar al-Assad. "The strikes created uncertainty in the market and that triggered yen buying," Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities, told AFP.
Traders tend to buy the yen as a safe bet in times of uncertainty or turmoil, but a stronger currency hurts the profitability of Japanese exporters - hitting demand for their shares. However, a rebound in the dollar helped drag the market into positive territory, while energy firms surged with oil prices as investors fretted over fresh turmoil in the crude-rich Middle East. Tokyo's Nikkei index closed 0.36 percent, or 67.57 points, higher at 18,664.63, but it lost 1.29 percent over the week.
The broader Topix index of all first-section issues rose 0.65 percent, or 9.59 points, to finish at 1,489.77. It fell 1.51 percent this week. The dollar weakened to 110.12 yen after the air strikes before rebounding to 110.64 yen, compared with 110.76 yen in New York. News of the strikes on Syria came shortly after Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping kicked off a two-day summit at the tycoon's resort in Florida.
What Trump and Xi say "will be one focus for the remainder of the week, but it's also US payroll Friday of course", Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank, said in a commentary, referring to US jobs data due later Friday. In Tokyo share trading, energy explorer Inpex jumped 4.01 percent to 1,126.5 yen and JXTG Holdings rose 2.24 percent to 537.9 yen.
Toyota rose 0.37 percent to close at 5,832 yen and rival automaker Honda tacked on 0.28 percent to 3,157 yen. Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing, a market heavyweight, fell 0.74 percent to 34,500 yen while Sony slipped 0.22 percent to 3,547 yen. Toshiba rose 0.55 percent to 216 yen following a news report that Taiwan's Hon Hai has offered nearly three trillion yen for its memory chip division, the jewel in cash-strapped Toshiba's crown.
Seven & i Holdings, which operates the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, jumped 4.34 percent to 4,637 yen after it announced it would take over more than 1,000 convenience stores and gas stations operated by Texas-based Sunoco for over $3.3 billion.
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