Copyright kyodonews
TOKYO - Japan's key stock indexes closed at all-time highs on Friday, with the Nikkei index ending above the 52,000 line for the first time, boosted by strong tech shares after robust earnings reports released overnight by some U.S. technology companies. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average surged 1,085.73 points, or 2.12 percent, from Thursday to 52,411.34, marking a record high close for the third straight trading day and a gain of more than 7,400 points in October, its largest-ever monthly point rise. The broader Topix index finished 31.04 points, or 0.94 percent, higher at 3,331.83. On the top-tier Prime Market, the main gainers were electric power and gas, food and nonferrous metal issues. The U.S. dollar has been firmer as expectations receded that the U.S. Federal Reserve would cut its policy interest rate in December. The Bank of Japan's decision on Thursday to keep its policy rate unchanged also sparked yen-selling. But the dollar briefly pared some of its earlier gains above the 154 yen line. The release of a stronger-than-expected Tokyo core consumer price index in October, before the market opened, helped revive expectations for a BOJ rate hike among some market participants, as the index is seen as an indicator of Japan's nationwide consumer prices. The yen's rise was also prompted by Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama's warning Friday against "extremely one-sided, rapid moves" in the foreign exchange market, following the currency's sharp fall against the dollar on Thursday, dealers said. At 5 p.m., the dollar fetched 154.30-32 yen compared with 154.10-20 yen in New York and 153.43-45 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Thursday. The euro was quoted at $1.1564-1566 and 178.44-48 yen against $1.1559-1569 and 178.25-35 yen in New York and $1.1617-1619 and 178.25-29 yen in Tokyo late Thursday afternoon. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond ended at 1.655 percent, up 0.010 percentage point from Thursday's close, as the debt was sold amid increased investor risk appetite following the Nikkei's sharp rise. The Nikkei stock index advanced more than 1,000 points, helped by shares of companies in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence businesses following upbeat earnings from U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. and tech firm Apple Inc. "As I think there will come a time when growth in AI will pause, investors will likely be looking at when that would happen while keeping tabs on earnings reports (of chip and AI-related firms)," said Masahiro Yamaguchi, head of investment research at SMBC Trust Bank. The market was also lifted by stocks of some Japanese firms that posted solid earnings and outlooks, while the yen's depreciation helped support some exporter issues. Sentiment was further improved by easing U.S.-China trade tensions after the world's two largest economies agreed Thursday on a one-year trade truce, brokers said. Shota Sando, equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory Co., noted that "BOJ chief Kazuo Ueda's remarks (on Thursday) turned out to be more dovish than expected." Ueda said that the central bank wants to see developments related to annual wage negotiations between labor unions and management toward early next year. Amid easing concerns over a possible BOJ rate hike in December, which may have given momentum to the Tokyo stock market on Friday, Sando said "there still seems to be some room for Tokyo stocks to rise further, with the Nikkei likely to be pushed up toward around 56,000" within this year.
