Japan's Nikkei rises on demand for futures, a weaker yen

Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Friday, as a weaker yen underpinned sentiment, while demand for the index futures ahead of the fixing of special quotation prices lifted the benchmark cash index.

The Nikkei NI225 was up 0.47% to 37,730.67 by the midday break and is set to fall 1% for the week.

The broader Topix TOPIX rose 0.56% to 2,771.81 and is poised to fall 1.6%.

The Nikkei received technical support ahead of the June 13 fixing of special quotation prices, used to set values on index options and futures, said Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.

"Foreigners, who shorted the Nikkei futures, bought them back ahead of the fixing day, which also lifted the Nikkei index," he said.

The Nikkei average futures (JNIc1) rose 0.59%.

A weaker yen was also a support for local equities, said Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager at the research department at Tachibana Securities.

The yen USDJPY was last traded down 0.23% at 143.885 per dollar.

Chip-related heavyweights Tokyo Electron 8035 and Advantest 6857 rose 1.28% and 0.98%, respectively.

Automakers rose, with Honda Motor 7267 and Nissan Motor 7201 gaining 1.19% and 1.38%, respectively, while Toyota Motor 7203 inched up 0.17%.

Flea market app operator Mercari 4385 jumped 5.94% to become the top percentage gainer on the Nikkei, while Oriental Land 4661, the operator of Tokyo Disneyland, rose 2.95%.

"When caution persists over the upside of the Nikkei, investors, particularly individuals, tend to look at smaller and domestic-led companies," said Tachibana Securities Kamada.

Panasonic Holdings 6752, a supplier of batteries for Tesla TSLA, lost 3.58% after Tesla shares plunged 14.3%

Shares of ispace 9348 were untraded after the moon exploration company said that its uncrewed moon lander likely crashed onto the moon's surface during its lunar touchdown attempt. The stock reached to a limit-low of 744 yen.