Japan’s Nikkei share average surged to a fresh 21-year high on Friday, helped by index heavyweight Fast Retailing, while selling of Kobe Steel resumed.
Traders said that belief that the ruling party bloc will win Japan’s general election later this month underpinned overall market sentiment, reports Reuters.
Kobe Steel Ltd dived 8.7 per cent after the Nikkei business daily reported that more than 30 companies outside Japan were found to have received products with falsified specifications.
For the week, the stock plunged 42 per cent.
The Nikkei gained 1.0 per cent to 21,155.18, the highest level since September 1996. For the week, the index rose 2.2 per cent. This was the fifth week of advances, the longest such streak since November.
The broader Topix rose 0.5 per cent to a 10-year high of 1,708.62 in heavy trade. Trading volume hit a three-week high of 1.85 billion shares and turnover was 3.28 trillion yen, the highest level since May.
Automakers bucked Friday’s market trend, with Toyota Motor Corp declining 0.4 per cent and Honda Motor Co dropping 0.6 per cent.
