TOKYO: Tokyo stocks were flat on Friday morning, with Nintendo retreating after the videogame giant’s shares surged more than 30 percent in two days on a plan to enter the smartphone gaming market.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo STOCK EXCHANGE
edged up 10.19 points to 19,486.75 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares slipped 0.17 percent, or 2.75 points, to 1,573.06.
The tepid performance comes after Tokyo fell Thursday following a surprisingly dovish forecast by the Federal Reserve for US economic growth and interest rates that sent the yen surging against the dollar — hitting Japanese exporters.
However, the greenback has since recovered from a tumble below the 120 yen level to buy 120.75 yen in Tokyo on Friday, slightly down from 120.80 yen in New York.
“The dollar fell quite a bit against the yen following the Fed’s statement, but investors are realising that there’ll be a rate hike either way this year,” Hitoshi Asaoka, a senior strategist at Mizuho Trust & Banking, told Bloomberg News.
“This will work towards supporting Japanese stocks.”
