Japanese shares inch up on US non-farm payrolls

TOKYO- Japanese shares hiked up on Friday following government’s approval of 26 trillion yen stimulus package set to enforce growth and arm the economy against risks brought by overseas slowdown.

At 0151 GMT, the Nikkei index inched higher with 0.32% gains to 23,375.02. Gains in financial and industrial sector heavily contributed to the said activity as the index set a mark for its second consecutive week of earnings.

Positive records were also from data expected to disclose US job creation acceleration last November. Such is set to relieve market sentiment about the overall health of the world’s biggest economy.

 A total of 159 advancers and 57 decliners on Nikkei index were recorded on Friday.

Highest percentage advancers in the index were pharmaceutical company Eisai Co Ltd with 4.41%, JFE Holdings Inc with 2.7%, and Kobe Steel Ltd with 2.21% gains.

Dropping at the bottom of the list were prescription drug maker Shionogi & Co Ltd shedding 1.36%, CyberAgent Inc with 1.29% loss, and marine products company Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd with 1.27% setback.

The US non-farm payrolls report is expected to disclose 180,000 new jobs were developed last November, a wide difference against 128,000 jobs created in the past month.

A positive note on the labor market would lessen pressure about the implications of the months-long trade war between Washington and Beijing.

The Topix index soared 0.1% on Monday to 1,713.07 points.               

0.2 billion volume of shares were traded on Tokyo Stock Exchange’s main board against 1,26 billion from previous 30 days.