Tokyo stocks rebounded Friday with US jobs data in focus as the Federal Reserve moves closer to another rate hike, while revised Japanese growth figures are due next week. Expectations are high for a June or July rate increase after Fed chair Janet Yellen last Friday said such a move could be justified "in the coming months", citing a recovery in the economy and strengthening labour market.
"The level of attention on tonight's employment data is very high," Mitsuo Shimizu, an equity strategist at Japan Asia Securities Group in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News. Next week, markets will be eyeing Japan's final growth data for the January-March quarter, due Wednesday. Preliminary figures showed the world's number three economy dodged a recession with a 0.4 percent expansion.
At the close Friday, the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.48 percent, or 79.68 points, to 16,642.23, after it tumbled nearly four percent in the previous two trading sessions. The index was down 1.14 percent over the week. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares added 0.41 percent, or 5.42 points, to end at 1,337.23. It was off 0.94 percent this week. Japanese shares were hit by a selloff after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday said he would delay a consumption tax, warning any rise could derail his bid to boost the economy.
Participants are waiting to see details of a fresh government spending package that Abe pledged to unveil in several months. The tax hike delay and expectations for more fiscal spending have reignited questions about Tokyo's ability to gets its books in order.
Japan has one of world's biggest national debts and raising taxes is seen as crucial to paying it down. Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing, a market heavyweight, soared 6.88 percent to 30,120 yen on a better-than-expected jump in May sales. Troubled auto parts supplier Takata rose 1.64 percent to 435 yen after Bloomberg News said investment funds Bain Capital and PAG Asia Capital are considering buying the firm at the centre of a global airbag crisis.
Japan's leading Nikkei business daily earlier said US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) is looking at Takata. Toyota edged up 0.11 percent to 5,675 yen and Sony tacked on 1.62 percent to end at 3,072 yen. Suzuki dropped 1.12 percent to 2,824 yen after Japanese transport ministry officials raided the automaker's headquarters. The move comes after the small car maker admitted it had been using improper fuel-testing methods on more than two dozen car models since 2010.
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