Japan's Nikkei jumps as US retail sales data soothes recession fears
Updates with levels as of 0230 GMT
By Brigid Riley
TOKYO, Aug 16 (Reuters) -Japan's Nikkei share average climbed nearly 3% on Friday and was set for its best week in more than four years, as strong U.S. retail sales data soothed fears of a recession in the world's largest economy and Japan's top trading partner.
The Nikkei .N225 had risen 2.9% to 37,800.42 by the midday break, hitting its highest since Aug. 1, while the broader Topix .TOPX was up 2.4% at 2,663.38.
For the week, the Nikkei has risen nearly 8%, on track for its biggest weekly gain since early April 2020, buoyed by easing concerns about the state of the U.S. economy, a pause in the yen's rapid appreciation and a pick-up in Japan's economic growth.
Wall Street's main indexes closed higher on Thursday after U.S. retail sales increased 1% in July following a downwardly revised 0.2% drop in June.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index .SOX finished nearly 5% higher, providing fresh momentum to Japan's big name chip-related shares.
Tokyo Electron 8035.T gained 3.8% and Advantest 6857.T added 5.4%.
Meanwhile, the yen weakened against the dollar overnight in a boost to Japan's export-related shares like automaker Toyota Motor 7203.T, which rose about 2%.FRX/
The Nikkei fell more than 12% on Aug. 5 in its biggest single-day decline since Black Monday amid a storm of concerns, including U.S. recession fears sparked by a weak jobs report and a sharply stronger yen.
It has since clawed back those losses but remains well off an all-time peak of 42,426.77 touched in mid-July.
"The market is gradually recovering from last week's shock but I don't think we'll see it completely shaken-off until the August nonfarm payrolls data," said Kyle Rodda, a senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.
"That will tell us whether the sell-off was a knee-jerk reaction or a rational response to a meaningful growth shock."
Among individual shares on Friday, Nikkei heavyweight Fast Retailing 9983.T was up 4.9%.
Electrical component maker Fujikura 5803.T rallied 9.2% to become the biggest percentage gainer.
Reporting by Brigid Riley; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Subhranshu Sahu
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