By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO, April 14 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
rallied for a sixth straight session on Friday, its longest
winning streak since July, as the benchmark index was buoyed by
advances on Wall Street overnight and a 9% surge in Uniqlo-owner
Fast Retailing.
The Nikkei was up 0.98% at 28,433.11 by the lunch
break, after touching a more than one-month high of 28,515.51
earlier in the session. That brought its gain for the week to
3.32%, the most since November.
From the current session, the Nikkei's 25-day moving average
- which had been a weight on the index - is set to turn up,
Nomura Securities strategist Kazuo Kamitani said.
"Next week will be an easy week for the Nikkei to rise...
There is a very real possibility of a break above the March 9
close of 28,623."
In the U.S., the S&P 500 jumped 1.3% and the
tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 2% overnight, as traders became
increasingly convinced of a peak in the Fed's interest rates
hikes next month as inflation pressures ease and the labour
market loosens.
Some of Japan's best-known tech names advanced, with Sony adding 1.05% and Nintendo up 1.49%.
A rise in crude to multi-month highs overnight also buoyed
energy shares, with Itochu and Marubeni soaring 3.90% and 3.27%, respectively.
But the outsized influence of Fast Retailing's 9%
surge on strong earnings - adding 277.5 index points, more than
the Nikkei's total 276 point advance - was clear from the
relative underperformance of the broader Topix , which
rose 0.38% to 2,015.56, bringing its weekly gain to 2.55%.
Semiconductor stocks were notable decliners on the Nikkei
though, with chip-making equipment giant Tokyo Electron dropping 1.69% and chip-testing equipment maker Advantest sliding 1.04% to be the index's biggest drags.
(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
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