Tokyo stocks ended flat Friday with investors sitting on their hands before the release of US jobs data that could make or break the case for a September interest rate hike. A dip in the yen against the dollar provided some support after the Japanese unit surged Thursday in New York following a surprisingly weak reading on US factory activity.
All eyes are on August non-farm payrolls figures later Friday, which are being tagged as a barometer of the timeline for a Federal Reserve move on borrowing costs. In forex markets, the dollar strengthened to 103.56 yen in Tokyo Friday, up from 103.23 yen in New York, a plus for Japanese exporters' profitability.
"I would be very cautious at this point," Ken Peng, a Hong Kong-based investment strategist at Citi Private Bank, told Bloomberg News. "I don't think you can count on a stronger dollar to weaken the yen much further. If it were to go further, it has to come from the Bank of Japan," he added. At the close, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended down 0.01 percent, or 1.16 points, at 16,925.68, but it still gained 3.45 percent over the week.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares rose 0.25 percent, or 3.38 points, to 1,340.76. It also gained 4.10 percent over the past five sessions. Next week, investors will be keeping an eye out for the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report on US economic conditions, to be released on Wednesday.
Revised Japanese GDP data for the April-June quarter is due Thursday, after preliminary figures showed zero growth in the period. On Friday, Toyota ended down 0.29 percent at 6,266 yen and Honda fell 0.59 percent to 3,185 yen. But Nissan shedded earlier losses and rose 0.19 percent to 1,033.5 yen. Sony rose 1.52 percent to 3,350 yen and market heavyweight Fast Retailing dropped 0.67 percent to 35,700 yen.
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