Tokyo stocks eke out gain in 11-day rally

Tokyo stocks eked out another gain Friday, extending the benchmark index's rise to an 11th straight day, its longest in more than a quarter of a century.

The Nikkei 225 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange edged up 0.06 percent, or 11.69 points, to end at 20,563.15, the longest winning streak since a 13-day run in February 1988 during the height of Japan's stock market bubble.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares rose 0.05 percent, or 0.89 points, to 1,673.65.

Shortly before markets opened, Japan posted a lacklustre string of economic data including a drop in household spending as well as weak inflation and factory output figures.

But investors took the slightly better-than-expected consumer price data as a positive sign, although the weak spending figures held back Tokyo's upside, said Toshihiko Matsuno, senior strategist at SMBC Friend Securities.

"The string of economic data released today was a mixed bag of positive and negative numbers but at least inflation beat market forecasts," he told AFP.

Strong corporate earnings and a string of share buybacks among cash-rich Japanese firms has kept sentiment buoyant recently.

SMBC's Matsuno said Tokyo "could go up a bit more" but warned that "no markets can keep rising forever".

Among the gainers, Yahoo Japan shares soared 12.24 percent to 559 yen after announcing a partnership with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

ANA Holdings, parent company of All Nippon Airways, rose 1.21 percent to 342.3 yen.

The firm has said it was throwing a lifeline to domestic rival Skymark Airlines by taking a nearly 20 percent stake in the bankrupt carrier, which is submitting a turnaround plan to the Tokyo District Court later Friday.

Mobile carrier SoftBank rose 1.12 percent to 7,447 yen, while Toyota slipped 0.38 percent to 8,604 yen.

In forex trading, the dollar eased to 123.85 yen after hitting 124.46 on Thursday, its highest level since December 2002.

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