Nikkei 225 Index Soars 4% in Friday's Trading and Extends Weekly Advance to 8%

Akira Ito
16 Aug, 2024
Tokyo

Benchmark indexes in Tokyo soared more than 3% and extended their weekly surge to over 7% after the latest U.S. economic data allayed fears of a slowdown. 

The Nikkei 225 and the Topix index extended gains for the fifth session in a row and extended weekly gains following a surge in stocks in overnight trading in New York. 

Market sentiment improved in Tokyo after U.S. retail sales rose more than expected and weekly jobless claims eased from the one-year high for the second week in a row, easing concerns of weakening labor market conditions. 

Tech and financial stocks led the gainers this week following the sharp advance in tech stocks in New York. 

The gains in markets were also supported by the faster-than-expected increase in GDP growth in the second quarter, driven in large part by higher consumer spending on durable goods. 

The yen drifted lower to 148.92 against the U.S. dollar on the worries that the Bank of Japan may not lift rates after the next policy meeting on September 19. 

The monetary policy committee is set to meet three times before the year's end, with two additional meetings on October 30 and December 18. 

 

Japan Stock Movers 

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 3.8% to 38,115.55, and the Topix index advanced 3% to 2,679.36. 

Tech stocks in Tokyo closed higher tracking gains in overnight trading in New York after the Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 2.3%. 

Tokyo Electron, Advantest, Disco Corp., Lasertec, and SoftBank gained between 3% and 7%. 

Three leading financial services companies jumped following the broad market advance. 

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, and Mizuho Financial advanced between 3% and 5%. 

Fujikura Ltd. soared 11.2% to ¥3,974.0, Sumitomo Pharma advanced 10.5% to ¥554.0, and Renesas Electronics Corp. jumped 7.5% to ¥2,509.50. 

Murata Manufacturing, TDK, Taiyo Yuden, and Furukawa Electric added more than 5%.