Japan's Nikkei rallies for sixth day on Uniqlo-owner Fast Retailing's boost

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)