Tokyo equities markets saw gains on Friday after Bank of Japan’s governor made remarks on Thursday that led investors to believe that interest rates would not rise soon nor sharply. His comments helped soothe fears that real estate would see losses if rates rose rapidly.
The Nikkei 225 was up 1.5 percent to 16,339.73 and the Topix index gained 1.2 percent to 1,663.98.
The securities sector also reacted positively to the comments from the Bank’s governor, gaining 3.6 percent on the day. Nomura gained 3.5 percent to ¥2,505, Daiwa was up 3.7 percent to ¥1,498, and Nikko Cordial gained 2.8 percent to ¥1,915. Most notably, Marusan Securities added 17.4 percent to ¥1,905.
Mitsui Fudosan gained 2.4 percent to ¥2,570 as the real estate sector as a whole rose by 2.3 percent.
In the consumer finance sector, credit card company Credit Saison gained 2.9 percent to ¥5,690 when it raised its net profit forecast for the year. This news helped others in the sector, as Aiful was up 2.3 percent to ¥8,600 and Takefuji added 1.8 percent to ¥7,810.