schema:articleBody
| - Tokyo stocks closed sharply higher on Friday, as investors looked beyond grim economic news to focus on easing coronavirus lockdown measures in parts of the US. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended up 2.56 percent, or 504.32 points, at 20,179.09. Over the two-day trading week, the index gained 2.85 percent. The broader Topix index climbed 2.21 percent, or 31.55 points, to close at 1,458.28. Over the week, the index rose 1.88 percent. Japanese markets were closed until Thursday for the annual "Golden Week" holidays. Daiwa Securities put the bullish sentiment in Japan down to "hopes for restarting economic activities" as countries begin to reverse strict lockdown measures imposed over the coronavirus. The dollar fetched 106.41 yen in Asian trade, against 106.26 yen in New York. In Tokyo, blue-chip exporters were generally higher, with Sony advancing 2.29 percent to 6,948 yen and Toyota closing up 1.21 percent at 6,492 yen. Nintendo dropped 3.90 percent to 44,300 yen on profit-taking after the Japanese gaming giant said it had notched up annual net profits of 258.6 billion yen ($2.4 billion) in the fiscal year to March, a gain of 33 percent from the year before. Fujifilm rallied 3.62 percent to 5,287 yen after it said it started selling test kits in Japan that detect the coronavirus in about 75 minutes -- significantly faster than the four to five hours that an existing test method takes. Japan's household spending in March dropped 6.0 percent from a year earlier, as the virus slammed spending on leisure activities, clothes, and eating out, according to official data released before the opening bell. kh/ric/mtp
|