By Lisa Twaronite
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Japanese shares were narrowly higher Friday after opening down, as a rise on Wall Street lifted investor sentiment. The Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NI225 10,304, -7.46, -0.07%) was up 0.1% at 10,320.81 and the broader Topix index was up 0.2% at 905.76. Shares of banks supported the indexes, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (JP:8306 435.00, +6.00, +1.40%) (MTU 5.15, +0.09, +1.78%) up 1.6%, Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (JP:8411 150.00, +4.00, +2.74%) (MFG 3.58, +0.11, +3.17%) adding 2.0% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (JP:8316 2,856, +62.00, +2.22%) (SMFG 6.85, +0.26, +3.95%) rising 1.5%. Shares of Fujitsu (FJTSY 33.95, +0.17, +0.50%) were up 0.4% after Japanese business daily Nikkei reported the IT services firm will jointly develop an aircraft parts management system with Boeing (BA 64.40, +0.16, +0.25%) . South Korea's Kospi (XX:$SEU 2,009, -8.24, -0.41%) was up 0.5%. |
