Japanese stocks posted paltry gains Friday, helped by several solid earnings results, but struggled to recover from a selloff Thursday following unexpectedly weak U.S. gross domestic product figures earlier in the week.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index eked up 11.62 points, or 0.1%, to 19,531.63, ending the week with a 2.4% fall, the sharpest since December
Japanese stocks have been helped by the prospect of U.S. economic recovery, with the benchmark Nikkei gaining 12% in 2015. But data showed Wednesday that the U.S. economy grew only 0.2% in the first quarter, slowing down from a 2.2% pace in the fourth quarter.
The Bank of Japan maintained its current easing program Thursday, giving market participants a signal to sell for now, as uncertainty remains over the pace of the U.S. recovery and when the Federal Reserve may start raising interest rates.
Nonetheless, several strong Japanese earnings supported the Tokyo market.
Bathroom products manufacturer Toto Ltd. rose 7.9% after the firm said it expects its net profit to increase by 28% to ¥31.8 billion ($265 million U.S.) in the fiscal year ending in March 2016.
Japan Tobacco Inc. gained 3.6% after the company said it logged a net profit of ¥104.2 billion in the January-March quarter, roughly unchanged from last year.
Meanwhile, a rise in mining stocks helped keep Australia’s stock market out of negative territory after Brazilian iron-ore producer Vale S.A gave the strongest signals yet Thursday that it could temper output in the face of an oversupplied global market. Big iron-ore miners were higher — BHP Billiton Ltd. was up 1.7% and Rio Tinto Ltd. was 2% higher.
Australian markets staged a small recovery, narrowing the week’s decline to 2% after the index on Monday came within 20 points of 6,000—a level last breached in January 2008 despite several attempts in recent months.
Among other individual stock movers, Fujitsu Ltd. lost 18% after the company said it expects net profit to drop 29% in the fiscal year ending March 2016.
Markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Taiwan and Singapore were closed for the May Day holiday
In other markets
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 6.06 points, or 0.1%, to 5,797.40
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 recovered 24.42 points, or 0.4%, to 5,814.40.
