Nikkei index closes at 18-month peak supported by ‎shareholder gains

The Japanese Nikkei index closed today, Friday, at the highest level in a year and a half, driven by gains made by major companies related to chip manufacturing, and with investors welcoming the announcement of local companies, returns on shares, at the height of the season for issuing financial results.

The Nikkei ended the session up 0.9%, recording 29,388.30 points, the highest close since November 2021. For the entire week, the index rose 0.79%.

According to “CNBC”, the broader Topix index rose 0.64% to 2096.39 points, recording a weekly increase of 1%.

Mitsubishi Corp. and its peers announced throughout the week that they will continue to reward shareholders in the current fiscal year, whether through higher cash dividends, share buybacks, or both. Mitsubishi shares fell slightly by 0.02% on Friday, but rose 6.3% for the week.

Tokyo Electron Co. pared losses in early trading to close 3.21% higher despite the fact that the leading Japanese semiconductor equipment maker warned that annual operating profit would be lower than expected. The share of its peer, Advantest Corp, increased by 3.32%

However, the Soft Bank Group bucked the general trend, and its share declined by 3.68%, which put pressure on Nikkei after the company, which pumps investments in the field of technology, announced annual losses that were almost three times greater than market expectations.