The Associated Press
(AP) — TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei stock index climbed to a new 10-month high Friday, but gains were modest as investors braced for a U.S. job report due later in the day.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average added 24 points, or 0.2 percent, to 10,412.09, the highest close since Oct. 6. During the week, the key index gained 0.5 percent.
The broader Topix index slipped 0.1 percent to 956.76.
"Investors found few leads to buy shares. They took a wait-and-see stance ahead of the release of the U.S. job report," said Hiroaki Mino, market analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. Ltd.
Labor Department data due out Friday is expected to show U.S. job losses slowing in July to a pace of around 320,000, with unemployment rising to 9.6 percent, up from 9.5 percent in June-the highest level in 26 years.
If the job-loss estimate is on target, it would be a heartening improvement from June's 467,000 job losses-and the slowest pace for job losses since August 2008.
"We are all waiting to see how Wall Street will react to the upcoming U.S. data," said Mino.
Toyota Motor Corp. fell 1 percent to 4,090 yen. Honda Motor Co. lost 0.3 percent to 3,100 yen. Nissan Motor Co. declined 1.1 percent to 694 yen.
Sony Corp. shed 0.4 percent to 2,695 yen. But Panasonic Corp. rose 0.5 percent to 1,476 yen.
Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan's top brokerage, increased 1.2 percent to 786 yen.
In currencies, the dollar was trading at 95.13 yen in Tokyo late Friday from 95.38 yen in New York late Thursday. The euro stood at $1.4360 from $1.4356.
