By Stanley White
TOKYO, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Japanese shares closed higher on
Friday, a day after its government approved a 26 trillion yen
($239.32 billion) stimulus package to support growth, with the
focus shifting to U.S. jobs data that will be out later in the
The Nikkei index .N225 ended up 0.23% to 23,354.40, buoyed
by gains in industrial and financial sectors. The benchmark rose
0.26% this week — its second weekly gain.
The stimulus package is expected to push up GDP by 1.4%
through fiscal 2021 and comes as Japan, like other major
economies, looks to revive growth through spending as central
banks rapidly run out of monetary policy options. Markets also rose ahead of data expected to show U.S. job
creation accelerated last month, which would ease concern about
the health of the world's largest economy.
The U.S. non-farm payrolls report is forecast to show
180,000 new jobs were created in November, more than the 128,000
jobs created in the previous month.
"The markets need positive data on the U.S. economy to move
higher," said Kiyoshi Ishigane, chief fund manager at Mitsubishi
UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co in Tokyo.
"It's certainly possible because Japanese shares have lagged
other markets and valuations are still cheap. In addition, the
size of the Japanese government's economic stimulus package is a
positive factor."
There were 126 advancers on the Nikkei index against 89
decliners on Friday.
The largest percentage gainers on the index included
pharmaceutical company Eisai Co Ltd 4523.T , which rose 5.81%,
followed by semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest Corp
6857.T , up 3.44%, and Kobe Steel Ltd 5406.T , which gained
3.23%.
The largest percentage losers on the index were online
security company Trend Micro Inc 4704.T , down 2%, followed by
Sumitomo Chemical Co Ltd 4005.T losing 1.96% and marine
products company Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd 1332.T down by 1.9%.
The broader Topix index .TOPX closed up 0.11% to 1,713.36.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 1.05 billion, compared with the average
of 1.26 billion in the past 30 days.
($1 = 108.6400 yen)