TOKYO: Tokyo stocks rebounded on Friday, supported by an overnight rise on Wall Street.

The Nikkei average of 225 selected issues listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange surged 437.24 points, or 1.54 percent, to close at 28,779.19, after surrendering 304.55 points on Thursday.

The TOPIX index of all first-section issues ended up 25.83 points, or 1.38 percent, at 1,890.95, the highest finish since the beginning of last year. The index lost 5.97 points the previous day.

With investor sentiment invigorated by the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rising to their all-time closing high on Thursday, thanks to expectations for a fresh coronavirus relief package by the U.S. government and hopes for a recovery in the country’s employment situation, the Tokyo market attracted buying on dips from the outset, brokers said.

A weakening of the yen against the dollar also helped push the Tokyo market further up in positive territory later in the morning.

In the afternoon, both the Nikkei and TOPIX indexes fluctuated tightly far above Thursday’s closing levels, buoyed by robust Asian stock markets.

Noting that the recent U.S. market chaos involving speculative trading by individual investors has “calmed down,” Maki Sawada, strategist at Nomura Securities Co., said, “Concerns that investors had about the market outlook has dissipated” and this allowed Tokyo equities to rise on Friday.

“The market was also supported by rosy earnings announcements by Japanese companies,” including automaker Mazda, she added.

Meanwhile, brokers also said that many market players took a wait-and-see stance in the afternoon ahead of the release of the U.S. government’s employment data for January later on Friday.

In the TSE first section, gainers overwhelmed losers 1,548 to 563, while 80 issues were unchanged. Volume increased to 1,537 million shares from Thursday’s 1,344 million shares.

JIJI Press