Nikkei rebounds on Wall Street tech rally, but posts weekly fall
21/08/2020 07:55
TOKYO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Technology stocks helped Japanese
shares edge higher on Friday, following Wall Street's overnight
rally, although investors taking profits ahead of the weekend
capped gains.
The benchmark Nikkei share average .N225 closed up 0.17%
at 22,920.30, after briefly rising over 1% in early trade.
However, the Nikkei lost 1.58% this week after posting two
consecutive weeks of gains.
The broader Topix .TOPX gained 0.3% to 1,604.06.
All but seven of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo
exchange traded higher.
On Thursday, Wall Street's main indexes closed higher as the
Nasdaq hit a record high, overshadowing gloom over downbeat U.S.
jobless claims data that underlined the Federal Reserve's view
of a difficult road to recovery.
Some analysts said the overnight moves contributed to
investors' risk appetite.
In Japan, technology-related shares gained as they benefited
from a strong performance in their U.S. peers.
Nintendo 7974.T gained the most among the top 30 core
Topix names, climbing 2.63% to hit a 12-year high. Tokyo
Electron 8035.T and Mitsubishi Electric Corp 6503.T added
0.74% and 0.84%, respectively.
Tense Sino-U.S. relations also weighed on market sentiment.
The Trump administration on Thursday declined to acknowledge
any plans to meet with China over the Phase 1 trade deal after
the commerce ministry in Beijing said bilateral talks would be
held "in the coming days" to evaluate the agreement's progress.
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Elsewhere in the market, Nippon Paint Holdings 4612.T
jumped 6.52% after it said Singapore's Wuthelam Group will buy
out the company for 1.19 trillion yen. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2FN1FG
Mobile social company Gree Inc 3632.T slumped 10.45% after
the company announced its net profit dropped 22.3% to 2.71
billion yen ($25.67 million) for the year ended June 30.
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($1 = 105.5900 yen)
(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Amy
Caren Daniel)
((eimi.yamamitsu@thomsonreuters.com;))