Tokyo: Nikkei ends week on a high in hawkish climate
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JAPANESE stocks gained on Friday (Sep 9), building on a rally from the previous day, even as investors digested hawkish remarks from policymakers that firmly established views of aggressive rate hikes to tame inflation.
Japan’s Nikkei share average closed 0.53 per cent higher at 28,214.75. The benchmark index started trading 0.5 per cent up and stayed above the psychological barrier of 28,000 throughout the day.
The Nikkei gained 2.04 per cent in total this week, mostly because of a 2.315 per cent rally on Thursday. The index was flat the first 2 days of the week and lost 0.71 per cent on Wednesday.
The broader Topix index rose 0.4 per cent to close the week 1.83 per cent higher.
“US stock futures have been solid after hours, and there hasn’t been any collapse,” a market participant at a domestic securities firm said, despite the previous day’s rally pointing to possible position adjustments ahead of the weekend.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday the US central bank was “strongly committed” to controlling inflation, while the European Central Bank also signalled further hikes to fight inflation.
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Of the Nikkei’s 225 constituents, 176 posted gains, 46 dropped, and three traded flat on Friday.
Every sector on the Nikkei rose overall. Healthcare was one of the best performing sectors, tracking a strong showing on Wall Street overnight.
Online healthcare company M3 Inc gained 2.74 per cent and was the second-biggest contributor to the Nikkei behind semiconductor company Tokyo Electron. Pharmaceuticals company Shionogi & Co rose 2.78 per cent and Chugai Pharmaceutical was up 1.72 per cent.
Air conditioner manufacturer Daikin Industries was the biggest laggard on the Nikkei with a 0.9 per cent drop.
Passenger transportation companies were among the worst performers. East Japan Railway Co made the biggest individual loss at 1.18 per cent, while Central Japan Railway Co and airline ANA were close behind, both falling 0.98 per cent. REUTERS
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