Pedestrians stand in front of a chart of yesterday’s trading at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo yesterday. Tokyo gained 0.67%, or 100.88 points, to close at 15,138.12 in yesterday’s trading.
Asian shares were mostly higher yesterday as Japanese stocks hit a fresh multi-year high after Wall Street dipped on weaker-than-expected economic data.
The dollar gained slightly in Asia as investors cautiously adjusted their positions following the unit’s recent surge, with brokers saying plenty of players, including importers, were willing to buy on dips.
Tokyo gained 0.67% or 100.88 points to 15,138.12, Sydney rose 0.29% or 15.14 points to 5,180.8, while Shanghai jumped 1.38% or 31.06 points to 2,282.87.
Hong Kong and Seoul markets were closed for public holidays.
In the week to May 17, Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index surged 3.63% or 530.58 points to finish at 15,138.12, the best close in more than five years.
Japanese shares are likely to gain further next week on robust investor appetite as confidence grows in the government’s ability to deliver economic growth, analysts said.
“Profit-taking can emerge from time to time but that can be easily erased by those who are eager to buy on dips,” Takero Inaizumi, strategist at Mizuho Securities said.
In announcing the second batch of his pro-growth proposals after the market close, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday offered plans for spurring capital spending by the private sector.
Investors were also unimpressed by a rise in initial jobless claims by 32,000 to 360,000. New building permits soared in April, but housing starts plummeted.
Most of the data “point more on the disappointing side of the ledger and may give markets a reason to sell off”, said Andrew Fitzpatrick, director of investment at Hinsdale Associates, a money management firm.
“There’s also been a lot of positive momentum here recently and I think the market’s taking a little bit of a breather here,” he said.
The dollar was slightly up at ¥102.28 in afternoon Asian trade against ¥102.22 in New York late Thursday. The euro bought $1.2864 and ¥131.57 against $1.2886 and ¥131.72 in US trade.
Oil was down in Asian trade, with New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June dropping 25¢ to $94.91 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for July delivery shedding 27¢ to $103.51.
Gold was at $1,379.02 at 1055 GMT compared with $1,374.10 late on Thursday.
In other markets, Taipei fell 0.26%, or 21.86 points, to 8,368.19; Wellington fell 0.82%, or 38.19 points, to 4,597.84; Manila shed 0.43%, or 31.07 points, to 7,279.87; Singapore dropped 0.09%, or 2.98 points, to 3,449.30; Bangkok added 0.62% or 10.07 points to 1,627.96; Kuala Lumpur rose 0.14%, or 2.44 points, to 1,769.16; and Jakarta ended up 1.32%, or 67.01 points, to 5,145.68.