Tokyo stocks closed slightly higher on Friday as rallies on Wall Street helped improve investor sentiment, but a stronger yen limited the gains. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.09 percent, or 18.42 points, to end at 21,627.34 while the broader Topix index was up 0.17 percent, or 2.72 points, at 1,617.11. "Trade lacked a sense of direction with positive factor from rallies in US shares offset by negative impact from a higher yen against the dollar," said Mutsumi Kanamori, strategist at Daiwa Securities.
The dollar fetched 110.80 yen in Asian trade, little changed from 110.82 yen in New York on Thursday but lower than 111.55 yen in Tokyo on Wednesday.
The Tokyo market was closed on Thursday for a national holiday.
Japanese consumer prices for February rose a sluggish 0.7 percent in February from a year earlier, according to government data released 30 minutes before the opening bell, as the world's third-largest economy continues its years-long battle to stoke inflation.
The market shrugged off the latest reading, which was slightly higher than expectations of 0.4 percent inflation.
In individual trading Friday, chip-related shares surged, after the US tech sector enjoyed strong gains.
Chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron rallied 5.19 percent to 16,515 yen and chip-testing machine maker Advantest jumped 6.17 percent to 2,578 yen.
Small car specialist Suzuki jumped 3.48 percent to 5,080 yen after it said it would strengthen a business tie-up with Toyota.
Pharmaceutical company Eisai nose-dived 16.54 percent to 7,565 yen after it said it had halted a joint study of Alzheimer's drug with US-based Biogen.
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