The Japanese stock exchange closed slightly higher on Friday. The lowering of the alert phase for the coronavirus in the Japanese capital Tokyo caused relief among investors.
The other major stock market indicators in the Asian region showed a mixed picture, following the lower closing levels on Wall Street, where the major American technology companies, in particular, were under pressure again.
The Nikkei in Tokyo entered the weekend with a gain of 0.7 percent at 23,406.49 points. The Japanese main index gained 0.9 percent this week. Due to the continued decline in the number of new corona infections in Tokyo, the alert phase was lowered by one step.
In July, the capital turned the alarm phase to red, the highest alert status, after a sharp increase in the amount of corona cases. Tokyo Dome fell 1.1 percent among companies. The operator of a baseball stadium and entertainment centre expects to suffer a loss in the current financial year because of the corona crisis.
The stock market gauge in Shanghai was 0.6 percent in the plus, and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong climbed 0.7 percent. The Kospi in Seoul lost 0.1 percent.
The All Ordinaries in Sydney lost 0.7 percent. Rio Tinto fell 0.7 percent after the departure of the chief executive of the British-Australian mining giant.
Chairman of the Board Jean-Sébastien Jacques and two other directors are resigning because of criticism of the destruction of an important heritage area of Aboriginal people, the indigenous people of Australia, for the mining of iron ore.