Tokyo stocks at 11-month high

Tokyo's benchmark index closed at an 11-month high Friday, notching up the year's longest winning streak as a sharp drop in the yen boosts the outlook for exporters. The yen is among a string of currencies that have tumbled against the dollar as markets bet that the US Federal Reserve will lift interest rates before the end of the year. A weaker yen is good news for exporters' competitiveness and profitability.
"The US economy is viewed (as) ready for enduring multiple rate hikes and the capital inflow into Japanese equities will continue on expectations over another round of weakness in the yen," Shoichi Arisawa, an equity analyst with Iwai Cosmo Securities, told Bloomberg News.
The dollar was trading around its highest level since March, buying 113.41 yen against 113.20 yen in Europe Thursday afternoon. US markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Tokyo's headline Nikkei 225 added 0.26 percent, or 47.81 points, on the day to finish at 18,381.22, its seventh consecutive gain. It rose 2.3 percent over the past week.
The broader Topix index of all first-section issues ended up 0.31 percent, or 4.57 points, at 1,464.53, climbing 2.5 percent this week. But the frothy market was in danger of overheating after a rally sparked by Donald Trump's election victory and hopes for a big fiscal spending package, warned Shinji Nakamura, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities.
"Stocks that benefit from the yen's weakness have been benefiting, but now it's hard to find a fresh buying peg" to push markets higher, he added. Japan's pension fund, the world's biggest, said Friday it logged its first profit in four quarters. The Government Pension Investment Fund posted a return of 1.84 percent, or 2.37 trillion yen ($21 billion) in the three months through September, boosting its total assets to 132.1 trillion yen.
Next week, investors will be keeping an eye on a meeting of the Opec oil cartel and key US jobs figures. In Friday's trade, Takata's volatile shares soared 13.86 percent to 616 yen as the embattled airbag maker negotiates with possible buyers. Bloomberg News reported that the firm is looking at several bids as it restructures following a damaging airbag defect scandal. Toyota rose 1.53 percent to 6,689 yen and Nissan jumped 3.37 percent to 1,087 yen. Panasonic soared 3.99 percent to 1,107.5 yen and Toshiba rose 1.00 percent to 410.3 yen.