Nikkei marks third week of losses

Japan's Nikkei average ended down 0.37 percent at 38,208.03 and recorded a 0.2 percent fall for the week, marking its third consecutive week of losses. The broader Topix index fell 0.24 percent at 2,680.71. Exporters and tech stocks saw large declines. Economic cues weighed on the sentiments. Tokyo inflation accelerated this month. Consumer prices excluding fresh food in the capital climbed 2.2% from a year earlier in November, picking up from 1.8%, according to the ministry of internal affairs.

In other data, Japan's housing starts fell 2.9% YoY in October 2024, marking a sharper decline than September's 0.6% drop. The downturn was driven by decreases in rented (-6.7%), built-for-sale (-9.3%), and pre-fabricated (-13.4%) units. However, growth was seen in owned (9%), issued (93.2%), and two-by-four (0.7%) categories. This marks the sixth consecutive monthly decline.

The seasonally adjusted industrial production index in Japan observed a monthly increase of 3% to land at 104.3 in October. Compared to the same month in 2023, the figure went up by 1.6%, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said in its preliminary report published on Friday. The shipments index increased by 2.8% month-on-month to reach 102.6, while also increasing 0.6% year-on-year. The inventories index came in at 102.2, decreasing by 0.1% compared to the previous month and reducing by 1.4% compared to October 2023.

Japan's unemployment rate landed at 2.5% in October on a monthly seasonally adjusted basis, according to a report by Japan's Statistics Bureau, released on Friday. The figure aligned with expectations, rising slightly from last month's jobless rate of 2.4%. The job-to-applicant ratio increased to 1.25 in October, up from last month's 1.24, meaning there were 125 job openings for every 100 job seekers.

Japan's consumer confidence index rose slightly to 36.4 in November 2024, recovering from October's five-month low of 36.2. Sentiment improved for income growth (40.2), durable goods purchases (29.9), and overall livelihood (34.3). However, employment sentiment dipped to 41.0 from 41.6.