Japanese stocks closed lower, weak yen limited losses

The Japanese Nikkei index closed lower today, Friday, as stocks of heavyweight technology companies tracked the impact of the sharp decline on Wall Street, but losses were limited after the weakness of the yen reinforced expectations of higher profits for local companies.

According to Reuters, the Nikkei index ended trading down 0.66 percent, to 27,513.13 points. It recorded a weekly loss of 0.57 percent

The broader Topix index also fell 0.46 percent to 1991.93 points, after touching the highest level in two and a half months in the previous session. The index recorded a weekly gain of 0.25 percent

Wall Street ended Thursday night trading sharply lower after unexpectedly strong inflation data and a decline in weekly jobless claims, which increased fears that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) will continue to raise interest rates to curb high inflation.

Strong economic data led the dollar to its highest level against the yen in six weeks

Technology investment group SoftBank Group fell 2.19 percent and caused the biggest downward pressure on the Nikkei index, followed by chip maker Tokyo Electron, down 1.7 percent. Recruit Holdings, a recruitment agency, fell 3.95 percent.