Japan’s Nikkei reached a fresh two-year peak on Friday, and posted its fourth straight weekly gain, which was kept in that position by the impact of a weaker currency as well as record highs on Wall Street.
The Nikkei ended 0.3 percent higher in the session and was found at 20,690.71 points after touching its highest level since August 2015. The index added a total of 1.6 this week.
The S&P 500 posted its sixth straight record high to in the previous week as investors cheered for an increased prospects for a tax overhaul with the Congress moving close to an agreement on a budget resolution. A weaker currency also have the Japanese shares a lift.
Norihiro Fujito, a senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, “The nikkei is getting a lift from the U.S. stocks gains, and hopes that the tax reform will be implemented, though it remains to be seen whether the U.S. momentum can continue”
Investors were also wary, ahead of key U.S. employment data that was reported later in the global session, as well as the continuing tensions that surround North Korea.
The shares of Japan’s MS&AD Insurance Group Holding were up by 1.6 percent, after the group said on Friday that it had agreed with the Swiss Re AG to invest 800 million pounds. Toshiba Corp shares were up by 1.0 percent.