Japan’s Nikkei averages biggest weekly gain in nearly two years

The Japanese Nikkei index ended Friday’s trading on a rise and recorded the largest weekly gain in nearly two years, tracking the impact of Wall Street gains, in light of caution over a five-day rally in local markets.

The Nikkei increased 0.65% to close at 2,6827.43 points, and its gains during the week amounted to 6.62 percent, the largest since May 2020.

The broader Topix index rose 0.54 percent to 1909.27, and its weekly gain was 6.1 percent, also the largest since early April 2020.

The Nikkei jumped more than 3 percent yesterday to reach its highest closing level in more than two weeks.

SoftBank Group led gains in the Nikkei index, which rose 3.68 percent, followed by chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron, whose share rose 0.85 percent, and Fast Retailing, which owns clothing store Uniqlo, whose share rose 0.5 percent.

Toshiba shares also rose 1.15 percent after an independent director said he would support a shareholder’s proposal at an extraordinary meeting next week that could pave the way for a possible takeover of the group.

Toyota Motor stock fell 0.79 percent after it said it would cut its global production target in April by 150,000 cars to 750,000, due to a shortage of semiconductors and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The decline in Toyota shares pushed the auto sector index to fall 0.88 percent, to be the worst-performing among the thirty-three Tokyo Stock Exchange sub-indices.