The Nikkei share average rose by 1% on Friday, thereby marking a rebound after panic surrounding the Omicron COVID variant knocked investor confidence. This recovery was largely spurred by investors’ decisions to scoop up travel and leisure stocks which largely declined during the period.
Closing at 28,029.57, this is Nikkei’s largest percentage gain in three weeks. While the Topix gained 1.63% on Friday, this merely limited the index’s weekly loss to 1.3%.
Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management gave his assessment on the latest movements on the Nikkei: “Investors started buying shares once they confirmed where the bottom of the Nikkei for the day. But going forward, the market will be moving up and down as long as details of the Omicron will be missing and concerns on the variant will remain.”
Some of the day’s biggest winners included KNT-CT Holdings, which skyrocketed by 9.56%, as well as travel agency H.I.S with an 8.06% gain. Outside of the travel and leisure sector, department stores also excelled, with Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings gaining 5.615% while Takashimaya jumped 4.81%.
Softbank Group stocks slipped by 0.71% after ride-hailing service Grab, which Softbank has a stake in, plummeted by more than 20% following its Nasdaq debut on Thursday.
