Tokyo stocks edge up on US rallies

Tokyo stocks closed marginally higher on Friday, tracking US rallies, as investors remained on the sidelines with few other market-moving events.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.17 per cent, or 39.68 points, to 22,920.30. Over the week, it lost 1.6 per cent. The broader Topix index was up 0.30 per cent, or 4.86 points, at 1,604.06 but declined 1.2 per cent from a week earlier.

"Rallies in US shares psychologically sustained market sentiment here," Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities, told AFP.

Wall Street shares rallied on Thursday shrugging off weak labour data, with the tech-rich Nasdaq rocketing to fresh records.

"But gains were limited in quiet trading" as investors were sidelined with a lack of fresh cues, Horiuchi told AFP. 

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"A strong yen was also prompting investors to refrain from buying actively," he added.

The dollar fetched 105.57 yen in Asian afternoon trade, against 105.75 yen in New York.

In Tokyo, Nippon Paint Holdings surged 6.52 percent to 8,490 yen after Japan's biggest paint maker said that Singapore-based Wuthelam Holdings will take control of the Japanese firm.

Among major shares, game giant Nintendo jumped 2.62 percent to 54,700 yen and Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing was up 0.69 percent at 61,060 yen, but Sony was down 0.83 percent at 8,284 yen.

Japan's core consumer price index in July was flat year-on-year, as in June, and after a 0.2-percent decline in May, according to internal affairs ministry data published before the opening bell.

Agence France-Presse