Nikkei index up amid bargain hunting, yen falls

Japan’s Nikkei index recovered early losses to close higher on Friday as investors bought back falling stocks and the yen fell against the dollar.

According to “Reuters”, the Nikkei index closed up 0.59 percent at 25,973.85 points, after it started trading on a decline affected by the decline of Wall Street at the end of trading during Thursday night. The index lost 0.46 percent over the course of the week, which included several holidays

The broader Topix index rose 0.37 percent to 1875.76, but lost 0.84 percent during the week.

“The rise of the yen against the dollar since the Bank of Japan’s (central) policy adjustment affected investor sentiment, but the trend changed yesterday,” said Chihiro Ota, assistant general manager of investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities.

He added, “Some investors bought back shares, as some of them seemed cheap in light of the yen’s decline.”

The Nikkei rose, supported by heavyweights, with chip and device maker Tokyo Electron jumping 3.51% and technology investment group SoftBank rising 1.24%. Daiichi Sankyo Pharmaceuticals rose 3.51 percent

Sony Group shares rose 2.41 percent, and Honda Motor shares rose 1.93 percent

The shipping company index jumped 3.27 percent, registering the best performance among the 33 sub-indices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.