Japanese stocks slipped as investors locked in some of the week’s gains on Friday, but a weaker yen and overall optimism about an economic rebound from a coronavirus-driven slump kept the major indexes on track for a weekly rise.

The benchmark Nikkei average dropped 0.35% to 22,616.77 by the midday break, off its more than three-month high touched on Thursday. But the index was still up 3.4% for the week.

This week’s global equity rally lost some steam overnight as traders took winnings from recent gains, backing away ahead of Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, which is expected to show further deterioration in the U.S. jobs market.

The broader Topix eased 0.33% to 1,598.51 by the midday recess, also off its more than three-month high, but with more than half of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange trading higher. For the week, the Topix was up 2.2% so far.

Source : Reuters