Japan's Nikkei ends higher as US jobs data calms recession fears
Updates with closing levels
By Brigid Riley
TOKYO, Aug 9 (Reuters) -Japan's Nikkei rose on Friday, as a bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. unemployment claims assuaged fears of a recession that had contributed to a massive sell-off at the start of the week.
The Nikkei .N225 closed 0.6% higher at 35,025.0, while the broader Topix .TOPX finished up 0.9% at 2,483.3.
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher overnight after the unemployment report suggested that fears the economy could be heading for a hard landing may have been overblown, and the gradual softening in the labour market remains intact. .N
The Nikkei has managed to claw back most of its losses after shedding 12.4% in a brutal sell-off on Monday due to recession worries and the unwinding of investments funded by a soft yen, finishing the week with a comparatively tame 2.5% decline.
It was another choppy day of trading though, with the index briefly falling 1% before regaining its footing as turbulence persisted following the dizzying double-digit swings that rocked Japan's stock market earlier this week.
Investors also took positions carefully ahead of a long weekend. Japanese markets will be closed on Monday for a public holiday.
Analysts say volatility will likely continue into next week as market players look for data to support a soft landing scenario for the world's largest economy.
"The U.S. economy is slowing down, but it's difficult to judge at the moment whether it will cool rapidly or gradually," making the market more reactive to economic indicators, said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
The Bank of Japan's decision last week to hike interest rates had also raised an alarm over how fast the central bank would tighten monetary policy, prompting its deputy governor to do some damage control on Wednesday.
Among individual stocks, corporate earnings results drew some of the biggest moves.
Electronics component manufacturer Fujikura 5803.T jumped 19.7% to become largest percentage gainer in the Nikkei, while staffing agency Recruit Holdings 6098.T gained 6.8%.
Cosmetic company Shiseido 4911.T slid 12.1% following midyear earnings that were hit by restructuring costs and slumping demand in China.
Reporting by Brigid Riley; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Subhranshu Sahu and Varun H K
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
