Market commenced trading with firm footing, as economic recovery hopes were swelled by U.S. President Joe Biden signing the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package into law. U.S. President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, which will send direct payments of up to $1,400 to most Americans.
Stocks gained further ground after the European Central Bank said after its monetary policy meeting that it would ramp up the pace of its pandemic emergency bond buying, in a clear bid to soothe market jitters about a rise in government borrowing costs and inflation. Bond yields in the euro zone have been ticking higher since February, in line with the yield on U.S. Treasury notes.
Shares of semiconductor-sector issues attracted active buying, with testing device manufacturer Advantest soaring 4.6% and production equipment-maker Tokyo Electron 4.5%. Shares of SoftBank Group jumped 3.4%, after South Korean e-commerce company Coupang, where the Japanese tech investor has a stake, went public on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. Suzuki gained 2.7%, following Mizuho Securities Co.'s lifting of its target stock price for the automaker. On the other hand, realtor Mitsui Fudosan dropped for the third consecutive session, amid weak demand for offices in central Tokyo.
CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar rose 0.33% to 91.722 against a basket of its peers on Friday afternoon during Asia trading hours. The Japanese yen changed hands at 108.98 per dollar, weakening from around 108.48.
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