Japan’s Nikkei 225 Advances for Fourth Day on Powell’s Remarks
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbs for a fourth consecutive day after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s bullish remarks on the US economy boosted risk appetite.
Topix Index rose 0.1% to 2,742.24 as of market close Tokyo time.
Nikkei advanced 0.3% to 39,395.60.
Recruit Holdings Co. contributed the most to the Topix Index gain, increasing 2.9%. Out of 2,128 stocks in the index, 1,218 rose and 796 fell, while 114 were unchanged.
While the ISM data was slightly disappointing, there’s still an optimistic view of the US economy, said Tetsuo Seshimo, a portfolio manager at Saison Asset Management. The fact that tighter monetary policy and interest-rate hikes are probably becoming unavoidable are weighing on the Topix index, he said.
Bank of Japan board member Toyoaki Nakamura said during a press conference on Thursday that he’s not objecting to a rate hike, but will look at data to decide on policy this month. Japanese government bond futures fall and the yen jumps against the dollar.(Cay)
Source: Bloomberg
