Japan's Nikkei average rose 1.6 percent on Friday, helped by what some market players said was buying of futures and a slight softening of the yen against the dollar. Stronger-than-expected US data on jobless benefits and trade added to investor confidence, market players said, with blue chip exporters leading the market's advance.
But the benchmark trimmed some gains towards the day's end as Chinese shares sagged and caution prevailed ahead of banking regulation changes to be made over the weekend. "Upbeat data and the yen lifted stocks early on. But a dip in China stocks and wariness towards the weekend's events slowed the rise in the afternoon," said Yumi Nishimura, deputy general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets.
Beijing moved the release of key economic data for August to Saturday from Monday, prompting speculation the numbers could trigger a reaction on financial markets. Central bank and regulatory officials agreed tougher new global bank capital rules on Tuesday and have kept investors on tenterhooks until Sunday when their formal endorsement is expected.
The benchmark Nikkei ended the day 140.78 points higher at 9,239.17, pulling away from a 16-month low of 8,796.45 hit on September 1. The benchmark gained 1.4 percent on the week. The broader Topix gained 0.8 percent to 833.72. Estimates by local brokerages just after the open showed Nikkei futures and options contracts expiring in September likely settled at 9,150.32. The Osaka Securities Exchange later confirmed the figure.
On the charts, the Nikkei faces resistance at 9,410, around its 13-week moving average, which has served as solid resistance since late August. After that, the bottom of the Nikkei's Ichimoku cloud lies around 9,530. Ichimoku charts are popular with Japanese traders.Some 2.19 billion shares changed hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section, its highest volume since late July, boosted by trade related to the settlement of futures and options. Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by more than 2 to 1.