Tokyo Stocks Rebound on Bargain-Hunting after Sharp Fall

stocks bounced back Friday as market players sought bargains following a sharp fall the previous day, while market sentiment was improved by a halt in the yen’s surge against the

dollar.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended up 152.58 points, or 0.80 percent, from Thursday at 19,287.28. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 9.48 points, or 0.62 percent, higher at 1,544.89.

Gainers were led by retail, pulp and paper, and electric power and gas issues.

shares largely gained after the Nikkei index’s plunge to a two-week low Thursday as

President-elect Donald Trump offered little detail on his fiscal plans and named

as one of the countries that have trade imbalances with

.

“After a round of selling on disappointment following Mr. Trump’s press conference, investors broadly bought on dips,” said Chihiro Ota, general manager of investment research at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.

The pause in the yen’s advance against the dollar also gave relief to investors and eased concerns that the strengthening currency could reduce exporters’ profits earned overseas when repatriated, Ota said.

Brokers said relatively strong corporate earnings in the retail industry brightened market sentiment.

Fast Retailing gained 420 yen, or 1.1 percent, to 38,430 yen, after the operator of the Uniqlo casual clothing chain said Thursday its group net profit logged a 45-percent gain in the September to November period from a year earlier, helped by solid results in some overseas operations and cost reductions.

Seven & i Holdings surged 382 yen, or 8.6 percent, to 4,832 yen, after group company Seven-Eleven Japan announced its operating profit for the March-November period hit a record high.

The brokers, however, said the share gains were limited as investors are keenly awaiting Trump’s inaugural ceremony next Friday and fourth-quarter earnings reports from major companies in

and

.

Caution remained amid lack of clarity about the implementation of Trump’s proposed fiscal stimulus such as tax cuts and boosting infrastructure spending, said Makoto Sengoku, market analyst at the Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, who added the shares may move narrowly in the next week.

On the First Section, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones 1,211 to 613, while 180 ended the day unchanged.

The yen’s relative weakness helped exporters, with Mazda Motor rising 27.50 yen, or 1.5 percent, to 1,860.50 yen, Sony up 17 yen, or 0.5 percent, to 3,549 yen, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries gaining 9.30 yen, or 1.8 percent, to 533.90 yen.

However, Bic Camera fell 19 yen, or 1.8 percent, to 1,053 yen after the company posted a 26.4 percent fall in group net profit in the September to November period from a year earlier.

Nintendo tumbled 1,450 yen, or 5.8 percent, to 23,750 yen after its new game console Switch failed to impress investors. The company announeced in the afternoon that the Switch will be launched on March 3 for 29,980 yen in

and $ 299.99 in

.

Trading volume on the main section totaled 1,600.20 million shares, down from 2,007.00 million shares on Thursday.

==Kyodo