Nikkei Rebounds on Wall Street Boost and SoftBank Rally

Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Friday, snapping a four-session losing streak, as a rally in SoftBank Group and gains on Wall Street lifted investor sentiment.

The Nikkei climbed 0.86% to 64,769.74 by the midday break but was down 2.46% for the week. This comes after Wall Street ended sharply higher in the previous session as investors reduced expectations for further US interest-rate increases.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller indicated that he would support keeping rates unchanged this month if upcoming data confirmed that inflationary pressures were easing.

However, Japanese equities continued to face pressure from expectations of further monetary tightening by the Bank of Japan. Markets have almost fully priced in a rate increase to 1.25% later this month, with another hike expected by January, according to data from money market broker Tokyo Tanshi.