European shares fell for the third session in a row, Friday, on their way to end the week lower; The escalating Russian-Ukrainian conflict has kept investors cautious as the weekend approaches.
A decline in financial and technology stocks wiped out gains in core and risk-less sectors, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index down 0.2%.
The Stoxx 600 is expected to end the week down by 0.4%; High energy prices due to sanctions once morest Russia have fueled fears of inflation and raised concerns regarding slowing economic growth.
The West imposed more sanctions on Russia on Thursday, and Washington was planning to retaliate if Moscow used nuclear weapons.
Telecom Italia shares jumped 5.9%, extending gains following KKR said it was still interested in acquiring the telecom group.
Japan
The Japanese Nikkei index rose for the ninth consecutive session Friday, in the longest streak of consecutive gains since September 2019; Investors repurchased cheap stocks even following the recent rally prompted traders to take profits.
The Nikkei index changed its direction, rising 0.14% to 28149.84 points, as the index climbed 4.93% this week.
The broader Topix index settled at 1981.47 points, but recorded a weekly gain of 3.78%.
said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market analyst at Sumitomo Mitsui DS. Asset Management “Investors have absorbed the impact of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war while US interest rate increases have already been taken into account.”
And Tokyo Electron, a chip equipment manufacturer, gained 0.63%.
Shionoji Corp.’s stock jumped 4.49% following the pharmaceutical company signed an agreement with the Japanese government to provide it with an oral treatment for COVID-19 that the company is currently developing.
On the other hand, the shares of SoftBank Group for Technology Investment and KDDI Phone Company declined by 0.25% and 1.85%, respectively.
(Archyde.com)
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