Nikkei index up recording best weekly performance in two ‎months ‎

The Japanese Nikkei index rose today, Friday, the last trading day in the country’s fiscal year, and recorded its best week in two months, after the easing of fears of a banking crisis and the decline in the yen boosted investor sentiment.

According to “Reuters”, the Nikkei ended Friday, up 0.93 percent, at 28,041.48 points, to remain above the 28,000-point barrier. And it had reached 28124.62 in early trading, up 1.23 percent and 342 points from the previous close.

The Nikkei rose 2.4 percent for the week, the biggest rise since Jan. 27. It jumped 7.46 percent during the quarter, recording the best performance since the end of 2020

The broader Topix index closed 1.02 percent higher at 2,003.50 points, after crossing the 2,000-point barrier for the first time since March 13. It rose 2.46 percent this week, recording its largest rise in two months

“Concerns about the health of the financial system have subsided at least for the time being, although it is clear that there are still concerns about what will happen to deposits,” said Kazuo Kamitani, a strategist at Nomura Securities.

He added that he expects the Nikkei to continue its upward trend during the next week

The index of the banking sector on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 1.19 percent, and the securities companies rose 1.21 percent, making them among the best performers among the 33 sub-indicators representing business sectors on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Transportation equipment stocks, including currency-sensitive automakers, rose 1.7 percent.

Mitsui & Co. recorded the best individual performance by a large margin, as its shares rose 7.61 percent after a report in the Nikkei newspaper stated that the trading company is considering raising the total return rate.

On the other hand, the shares of shipping companies fell 4.87 percent, and were the worst performers by a large margin.