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Japan’s Nikkei edged up on Friday morning to a fresh one-month high as hopes that a US-China trade deal will be made supported risk appetites, lifting shares of firms that rely on Chinese demand.
The Nikkei share average rose 0.3 per cent to 21,787.48 in midmorning trade, after reaching 21,839.18, the highest since March 4. For the week, the benchmark index was up 2.7 per cent.
Friday’s winners were firms that depend on Chinese demand. Yaskawa Electric surged 2.6 per cent, Hitachi Construction Machinery advanced 1.8 per cent and Fanuc Corp added 1.5 per cent.
Japan Post Insurance soared 5.9 per cent after saying after Thursday’s market close that it would buy back up to 50 million shares for as much as 100 billion yen ($895.4 million), reports Reuters.
Foreigners were net sellers of Japanese stocks for the second consecutive week ended March 29 as a fall in US bond yields stoked fears of a recession in the US.
Overseas investors sold a net 857.5 billion yen of Japanese stocks marking their biggest weekly net sales since Oct. 26, 2018, data from Japanese stock exchanges showed.
The broader Topix rose 0.4 per cent to 1,625.70.