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Japanese shares claw back losses after rollercoaster session

Hannah Smith
Written By:
Hannah Smith
Posted:
Updated:
24/05/2013

Japanese shares have regained some of their ground after falling more than 7% yesterday in a dramatic trading session.

The Nikkei swung between gains and losses in a rollercoaster trading day which saw the index shed more than 7%, before rising 0.89% to 14,612 on Friday.

Thursday’s moves were driven by fears over weak Chinese manufacturing data, and concerns the US Federal Reserve may cut stimulus measures.

Despite the recent falls, the Nikkei is still up 40% year-to-date as investors give their backing to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s expansionary policies.

Meanwhile the Topix rose 0.7% after a 6.9% drop yesterday, the largest decline since the disastrous earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan in March 2011.

The yen reversed its downward course to strengthen following a speech by Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, in which he said the Bank of Japan has unleashed sufficient stimulus.

The yield on a 10-year Japanese government bond gained 4.5 basis points to 0.875% after climbing to 1% on Thursday for the first time since April 2012.

The FTSE 100 and Europe’s main equity markets closed 2% lower yesterday after a volatile session, which saw the FTSE retreat from near an all-time high to close at 6,696.79. US markets ended the day fairly flat.