Japan shares end flat, down 8% for week on economic jitters

By Stanley White
TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Japanese shares ended flat on
Friday helped by health care and energy firms, but investors
refrained from aggressive bets ahead of U.S. unemployment data
later in the day.
The Nikkei index ended up 0.01% at 17,820.19 in a subdued
session that saw shares bounce between gains and losses. For the
week, the index was down 8.1% as fear about the economic costs
of the coronavirus hurt global equity markets.
Investors sought shares of health care companies that are
expected to make a profit as researchers race to find medicines
to treat the global coronavirus epidemic.
Some oil producers and industrial firms also got a boost on
hopes a truce among major oil producers will relieve some of the
massive oversupply in the energy market.
Despite the gains on Friday, the Nikkei fell 8% this week as
fear about the economic costs of the coronavirus hurt global
equity markets.
Investors are now looking to Friday's U.S. non-farm payrolls
report for March, which is expected to show the world's largest
economy lost 100,000 jobs as companies quickly jettisoned
workers in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
"We are waiting for non-farm payrolls, but a lot of bad news
has already been priced in so it's hard to say how much markets
will react," said Ayako Sera, market strategist at Sumitomo
Mitsui Trust Bank in Tokyo.
"Japan also has its own problem with the virus. If the
government declares a state of emergency, that would be bad for
Japanese stocks."
Draconian restrictions on personal movement aimed at curbing
the spread of the flu-like virus are widely expected to throw
the global economy into recession.
Infections in Japan have been rising recently, and some
investors worry the government will declare a state of
emergency, which would weigh on an already stuttering economy.
There were 80 advancers on the Nikkei index against 142
decliners on Friday.
The largest percentage gainers in the index were chemicals
maker Denka Co Ltd 4061.T up 24.03%, followed by medical
products and devices maker Fujifilm Holdings Corp 4901.T
gaining 6.25%, and parcel delivery firm Yamato Holdings Co Ltd
9064.T up by 4.44%.
Fujifilm said on Friday a subsidiary of the company will
release a new coronavirus testing kit on April 15 that can
shorten the time to deliver results to around two hours.
Fujifilm has also begun clinical trials of its antiviral
drug Avigan as a potential treatment of coronavirus symptoms.
Denka Co will supply the raw chemicals used to make Avigan.
The largest percentage losses in the index were auto maker
Subaru Corp 7270.T down 8.22%, followed by department store
operators J.Front Retailing Co Ltd 3086.T losing 7.75% and
Marui Group Co Ltd 8252.T down by 5.83%.
The broader TOPIX index .TOPX fell 0.36% to 1,325.13 on
Friday. For the week the TOPIX was down 9.2%.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 1.5 billion, compared to the average of
2.09 billion in the past 30 days.
U.S. data on Thursday showed initial claims for unemployment
benefits rose to a record 6.65 million in the latest week from
an unrevised 3.3 million the previous week.
Dismal manufacturing data from around the globe has dented
sentiment this week.
With global coronavirus infections now crossing the 1
million mark, a return to business as usual in the near term
seems unlikely, with economic activity likely to contract
further.

(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)