Japan’s Nikkei records slight gains amid the weakness of the yen

Japan’s Nikkei rose on Friday, trimming its weekly losses, as sentiment was boosted by a weaker yen and Wall Street closing higher overnight.

The Nikkei index ended Friday’s trading, up 0.17 percent, at 27,518.31 points. However, it remained far from the high it recorded early in the session at 27,591.15 points, and the index fell briefly into the red zone after the mid-day break.

The Japanese stock index lost 1.9 percent during the first week of the new Japanese fiscal year. It reached a near one-month high of 28,287.42 points on Tuesday, only to slide with global equities as a wave of weak US economic data fueled fears of a recession.

The broader Topix index rose 0.21 percent to 1,965.44 points, trimming its weekly loss to 1.9 percent.

The yen, which is considered a safe haven, fell overnight after reaching its highest level since March 28 earlier in the week, and there was little change in today’s trading, recording 131.805 against the dollar.

This helped automakers in particular. Mazda rose 1.95 percent and Subaru 1.33 percent. However, Toyota shares fell 0.38 percent after the company revealed an updated electric vehicle strategy.

While the shares of Seven & I Holdings, operator of the 7-Eleven series in Japan, were the biggest losers, as it plunged four percent after the disappointing earnings results.