Japan's Nikkei makes a comeback as recession fears ease on US retail sales data
Hindustan TimesJapan's Nikkei share average climbed nearly 3% on Friday and notched its best week in more than four years, as strong U.S. retail sales data soothed fears of a recession in the world's largest economy and Japan's top trading partner. Wall Street's main indexes closed higher on Thursday after U.S. retail sales increased 1% in July following a downwardly revised 0.2% drop in June. The Nikkei fell more than 12% on Aug. 5 in its biggest single-day decline since Black Monday amid a storm of concerns, including U.S. recession fears sparked by a weak jobs report and a sharply stronger yen. "The market is gradually recovering from last week's shock but I don't think we'll see it completely shaken off until the August nonfarm payrolls data," said Kyle Rodda, a senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.