Tokyo’s Nikkei inches up at close

TOKYO: Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei index closed slightly higher on Friday, supported by gains from SoftBank Group, while the broader Topix was down on profit-taking. The Nikkei 225 index edged up 0.09 percent, or 34.14 points, to 36,897.42, while the Topix index slipped 0.19 percent, or 4.75 points, to 2,557.88.

Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group gained 8.72 percent to end at 7,991 yen after “its subsidiary and British chip designer Arm announced good results and soared 48 percent in the US market,” IwaiCosmo Securities said. SoftBank reported on Thursday a net profit of 950 billion yen ($6.4 billion) for October-December 2023, returning to the black after four consecutive quarterly losses.

Chip equipment firm Tokyo Electron gained 1.09 percent to 29,755 yen while Nintendo rose 0.93 percent to 8,700 yen. Nissan, which said its net profit almost tripled year-on-year, plunged 11.56 percent to 553.1 yen.

The dollar fetched 149.36 yen against 149.30 yen in New York.