
Tokyo stocks retreat after Japan-US trade deal jump
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 370.11 points, or 0.88 percent, from Thursday at 41,456.23. The broader Topix index finished 25.69 points, or 0.86 percent, lower at 2,951.86.
On the top-tier Prime Market, decliners were led by chemical, iron and steel and transportation equipment issues.
The U.S. dollar briefly strengthened to the mid-147 yen range in Tokyo after U.S. weekly jobless claims fell unexpectedly, helping to ease concern about the prospects for the world's largest economy, dealers said.
Stocks declined throughout the day after the Nikkei benchmark briefly climbed to a one-year high above the 42,000 line Thursday, while shares of companies that released weak earnings and projections plunged.
Among such issues, Mitsubishi Motors ended down 7.9 percent at 406.0 yen, after the automaker said its net profit in the April-June quarter dived 97.5 percent from a year earlier, pressured by the adverse impact of hefty U.S. tariffs.
More companies are set to announce their earnings next week, including Nissan Motor and Nippon Steel.
"After Japan reached the trade deal with the United States, some companies are expected to make comments about the impact of the latest agreement," said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co.
"Full-year earnings would be examined based on such comments, and share prices of companies are likely to be influenced by how they are affected by the tariffs," he added.
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