TOKYO,(MILLAT+APP/AFP) – Tokyo’s benchmark stock index
ended a volatile 2016 on a down note Friday, but still eked out its fifth straight annual gain on optimism about the incoming government of President-elect Donald
Trump.
The New York real-estate baron’s surprise US election victory last month
has sparked a rally in global equity markets and pushed the dollar higher on
expectations of big government spending and a rise in interest rates.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.42 percent in 2016, marking the
fifth consecutive increase despite declining in the year’s final session.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares however, was unable to
keep pace this year, losing 1.85 percent to snap four years of annual gains.
On Friday, the Nikkei lost 0.16 percent, or 30.77 points, to close at
19,114.37, taking its downward lead from the US. The Topix edged up 0.01
percent, or 0.22 points, to 1,518.61.
Shares in troubled Toshiba jumped following a three-day bloodletting in
which investors dumped shares over expectations of a massive one-time loss.
Toshiba rose 9.43 percent to 283.1 yen after losing some 40 percent from
Tuesday through to Thursday.
The company this week warned of a possible loss of several billion dollars
in its US nuclear business but said the exact figure had yet to be determined,
which fuelled investor anxiety.
Auto parts maker Takata surged 21.21 percent to 857 yen, adding to a 16.47
percent jump the day before after news it is close to settling a US criminal
probe into an exploding airbag scandal.