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| - Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index rallied more than 3.1 percent on Friday as investors welcomed plans by President Donald Trump for a phased reopening of the US economy. The Nikkei 225 index rose 3.15 percent, or 607.06 points, to close at 19,897.26, while the broader Topix index gained 1.43 percent, or 20.30 points, to 1,442.54. Japanese shares were supported by rises in US stocks as "Trump vowed to press ahead with reopening the economy," Monex senior market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama said in a note. China announced on Friday that its economy contracted for the first time in decades during the last quarter as drastic measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic brought activity to a standstill. "But the impact of China's GDP on the market was limited as the negative figures were within expectations," said Yoshihiro Okumura, general manager at Chibagin Asset Management. The impact of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to extend a nationwide state of emergency to combat the pandemic was also limited, Okumura told AFP. "The announcement was a little bit of a surprise, but it's better to take action thoroughly than taking halfway measures," he added. The dollar fetched 107.72 yen in Asian afternoon trade, against 107.81 yen in New York late Thursday. In Tokyo, automakers were among the winners as Honda soared 8.31 percent to 2,469.5 yen, with Toyota up 2.33 percent at 6,756 yen. Sony jumped 4.01 percent to 6,969 yen with SoftBank up 6.88 percent at 4,735 yen. But Nintendo fell 0.36 percent to 46,830 yen while Fujifilm, which is conducting clinical trials of its anti-flu drug Avigan for coronavirus patients, lost two percent to 5,336 yen on profit-taking. bur/si/ric/axn
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