TOKYO, May 12 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei closed at a
1-1/2-year high on Friday, led by gains in chip-related
heavyweights, as investors cheered announcements of domestic
firms' shareholder returns at the peak of the earnings season.
The Nikkei share average ended 0.9% higher at
29,388.30, its highest close since November 2021. For the week,
the index added 0.79%.
The broader Topix advanced 0.64% to 2,096,39 and
posted a 1% weekly gain.
"Corporate outlook was not necessarily all good. We saw some
positive outcome but there were disappointments too," said
Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo
Research Institute.
"But many companies have announced share buybacks and other
measures to give returns to shareholders. That raised investor
sentiment and boosted the market."
Mitsubishi Corp and its peers this week flagged
continued rewards to shareholders this financial year - either
with hikes to dividends or stock buybacks or both. Shares of
Mitsubishi slipped 0.02% on Friday but posted a 6.3% weekly
gain.
Heavyweight Tokyo Electron Ltd cut early losses to
jump 3.21% even as Japan's leading maker of semiconductor
manufacturing tools flagged a lower-than-expected annual
operating profit.
Its peer Advantest Corp gained 3.32%.
Bucking the trend, SoftBank Group Corp fell 3.68%
and weighed on the Nikkei the most after the Japanese technology
investor posted an annual loss that was more than three times as
big as market expectations.
Sharp Corp tanked 8.69% after the electronics maker
reported a surprise $1.9 billion loss on writedowns of its panel
display business and other assets.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Varun H K and Uttaresh
Venkateshwaran)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.