Japanese stocks attain biggest weekly gain in 6-1/2 yrs

Japan’s Nikkei posted its biggest weekly gain in 6-1/2 years after a fifth straight winning session on Friday, lifted by Wall Street’s record run and a sagging yen, while newly-listed Line Corp ended 32 percent above its IPO price.

Index-heavy Fast Retailing Co soared 18 percent to its daily limit of 32,660 yen, and contributed a hefty 197 points to the Nikkei benchmark after the ‘Uniqlo’ clothing operator reported strong March-May results.

The Nikkei share average rose 0.7 percent to 16,497.85, its highest closing level since June 10. Helped by fiscal and monetary stimulus hopes, receding Brexit worries and a sliding yen, the benchmark index gained 9.2 percent for the week, the biggest weekly gain since December 2009.

In their closely watched Tokyo debut, Line shares opened at 4,900 yen ($46.17), 48 percent above their IPO price of 3,300 yen and rose to as high as 5,000 yen after the Japanese messaging app firm raised 115 billion yen from a dual New York-Tokyo listing. It closed at 4,345 yen.

Buoyed by the ongoing popularity of Pokemon GO, Nintendo Co soared 9.8 percent, with its trading volume hitting a record high for an individual stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The head of Niantic, the developer behind Pokemon GO, said he wanted to launch the smash-hit mobile game in about 200 markets soon.

An attack in Nice, France, that killed at least 75 people late on Thursday was taken in stride.

The broader Topix gained 0.5 percent to 1,317.10, with turnover hitting a three-week high of 3.1 trillion yen.

The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 added 0.4 percent to 11,830.47.

Source: Reuters