TOKYO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Japanese shares were little moved
on Friday, and were set to post a third consecutive month of
gains, though investors awaited more assurance that U.S.
legislation backing Hong Kong protesters would not derail a
prospective U.S.-China trade deal.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 was virtually flat at
23,408.04 in late-morning trade but was on track to post a 2.1%
rise for the month. For the week, it was on track to log a 1.2%
gain, to mark its first weekly rise in three weeks.
U.S. S&P 500 mini futures ESc1 were last down 0.2%. New
York markets were shut on Thursday for Thanksgiving holiday and
with many investors kept to the sidelines on Friday, waiting to
see how U.S. markets perceive the latest clash between
Washington and Beijing over Hong Kong.
China warned the United States on Thursday it would take
"firm counter measures" in response to U.S. legislation backing
anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. "The question is what real actions Beijing will take. The
working assumption for most investors is that this will not
derail the trade talks, given China is suffering from an
economic slowdown," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment
strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
Against the yen, the dollar last traded at 109.50 yen
JPY= , not far from its six-month peak of 109.61 marked on
Wednesday, supporting exporters as a softer yen boosted overseas
corporate profits.
Struggling industrial conglomerate Toshiba Corp 6502.T
jumped 2.8%, Sony Corp 6758.T rose 0.8%, while Mitsubishi
Motors Corp 7211.T added 1.0%.
Panasonic Corp 6752.T advanced 2.4% after the electronics
giant said it would sell its loss-making semiconductor unit to
Taiwan's Nuvoton Technology Corp 4919.TW for $250 million.
The broader Topix .TOPX stood flat at 1,707.65.