TOKYO: Tokyo stocks have ended slightly higher, clawing back early losses after a mixed US jobs report, while investors look ahead to Greece’s weekend bailout referendum, which could decide its future in the eurozone.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday added 0.08 per cent, or 17.29 points, to close at 20,539.79, while the Topix index of all first-section shares was up 0.23 per cent, or 3.85 points, to finish at 1,652.09.
US data on Thursday showed the world’s biggest economy created a solid 223,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate fell to 5.3 per cent from 5.5 per cent.
But hourly earnings were flat compared with May, while the estimates for job growth in April and May were cut.
The data called into question the likelihood the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates in September, as many market-watchers predict.
“I don’t think the US labour market is getting worse, but it’s not getting better either,” Nobuhiko Kuramochi, head of investment information at Mizuho Securities, told Bloomberg News.
“It’s not a reason for the Federal Reserve to hurry into raising interest rates. Polls on the Greek vote show that the results are in the balance. It’s difficult for investors to move on Japanese stocks with major events ahead of us.”
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras broke off debt reform talks on Saturday and called the plebiscite on creditors’ proposals – leading it to default on a loan repayment on Tuesday.
