Japan stocks rise further as yen rebounds

By Laura He, MarketWatch

Reuters

Japan stocks rose further on Friday, while other Asian markets were mostly up.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Japan stocks rose further on Friday, with yen strengthening against the greenback after the country’s finance minister expressed concerns about the currency’s recent sharp drop.

The Nikkei Average /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK -0.39%  added to previous gains and closed up 0.3%. For the week, the index posted a 0.8% loss. The broader Topix index /zigman2/quotes/210598092/delayed JP:180460 -0.20%  edged 0.2% higher on Friday, ending the week flat.

Meanwhile, the yen /zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled USDJPY -0.0076%  rebounded to ¥117.67 per dollar from a seven-year low of ¥118.98 per dollar on Thursday, after Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso said that the decline of the currency in the past week has been too fast.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved the lower house of parliament to pave the way for an early election on Dec. 14.

Market movers included camera maker Nikon Corp. /zigman2/quotes/203281219/delayed JP:7731 -7.31%  , advancing 3%, industrial-robot manufacturer Fanuc Corporation /zigman2/quotes/202054799/delayed JP:6954 -0.22%  , up 1.3%, and media conglomerate Sony Corporation /zigman2/quotes/201361720/delayed JP:6758 +0.67%  , higher by 1%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index /zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed HK:HSI -1.60%  snapped a four-day losing streak and recovered 0.4%. However, the index still suffered a weekly loss of 2.7%.

In other Asian markets, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 /zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed AU:XJO -0.62%  dipped 0.2%, while mainland China’s Shanghai Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed CN:SHCOMP -0.96%  rose 1.4%, and South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed KR:180721 +0.39%  moved up 0.4%.

/zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:NIK

NIKKEI 225 Index

JP : Nikkei

22,329.94

-88.21 -0.39%

Volume: 0.00

Aug. 7, 2020 3:15p

/zigman2/quotes/210598092/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:I0000

TOPIX Index

JP : Tokyo Exchange (TOPIX)

1,546.74

-3.14 -0.20%

Volume: 0.00

Aug. 7, 2020 3:00p

/zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled

Add to watchlist USDJPY

Japanese Yen

US : Tullett Prebon

105.9200

-0.0080 -0.0076%

Volume: 0.0000

Aug. 7, 2020 4:59p

/zigman2/quotes/203281219/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:7731

Nikon Corp.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 735.00

-58.00 -7.31%

Volume: 6.52M

Aug. 7, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

2.72%

Market Cap

¥269.84 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥34.15M

/zigman2/quotes/202054799/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:6954

Fanuc Corp.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 18,255.00

-40.00 -0.22%

Volume: 538,600

Aug. 7, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

59.19

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

¥3501.76 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥95.87M

/zigman2/quotes/201361720/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:6758

Sony Corp.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 8,525.00

+57.00 +0.67%

Volume: 5.04M

Aug. 7, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

16.13

Dividend Yield

0.59%

Market Cap

¥10412.69 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥72.37M

/zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:HSI

Hang Seng Index

HK : Hong Kong Exchange

24,531.62

-398.96 -1.60%

Volume: 1.61M

Aug. 7, 2020 4:08p

/zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:XJO

S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index

AU : S&P ASX

6,004.80

-37.40 -0.62%

Volume: 612,541

Aug. 7, 2020 5:26p

/zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:SHCOMP

Shanghai Composite Index

CN : China: Shanghai

3,354.04

-32.43 -0.96%

Volume: 40.39B

Aug. 7, 2020 3:01p

/zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:SEU

KOSPI Composite Index

KR : Korea Exchange

2,351.67

+9.06 +0.39%

Volume: 812,594

Aug. 7, 2020 3:32p