Japan's Nikkei firms on Fast Retailing, chip share gains
By Brigid Riley
TOKYO, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Friday, buoyed by index heavyweight Fast Retailing and major semiconductor-related shares, while investors awaited another round of domestic companies earnings reports.
The Nikkei .N225 rose 0.6% to 39,612.82 by the midday break after touching its highest intraday trading level in two weeks at 39,662.42. The index is on track for a more than 2% gain for the week.
The broader Topix .TOPX was up 0.2% at 2,718.03.
Fast Retailing 9983.T offered the biggest lift to the Nikkei, rising 3.8% to contribute more than half of the benchmark index's 231.93-point gain.
The owner of clothing brand Uniqlo announced on Thursday after the market close that it booked a third year of record profits on widened profit margins in its international segments.
Despite a dip in the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index .SOX overnight along with Wall Street's three main indexes, Japan's chip-related shares brushed aside the losses to track U.S. chip star Nvidia NVDA.O higher. .N
"It seems like Nvidia (gaining) had a bigger impact, at least psychologically," said Kazuo Kamitani, a strategist at Nomura Securities.
Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest 6857.T, which counts Nvidia among its customers, rose 2.4%, along with chip-making equipment giant Tokyo Electron 8035.T, up 0.6%.
With Japan's markets closed for a public holiday on Monday and investors eying a slew of company revenue results on Friday and Tuesday, the index struggled to rise closer to the 40,000-point range.
Nomura's Kamitani said it is likely the Nikkei will hover around its current level as investors position ahead of the long weekend.
Among individual shares on Friday, Seven & I Holdings 3382.T declined 4.7% to lead percentage losers on the Nikkei.
The retailer announced on Thursday a roadmap to hive off underperforming businesses and focus on its convenience store operations, as it aims to fend off a $47-billion takeover bid from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard ATD.TO.
Reporting by Brigid Riley; Editing by Eileen Soreng
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