Japan’s Nikkei average climbed 2.2 percent on Friday, its biggest one-day percentage gain in five months, after the European Central Bank outlined its bond buying scheme in an attempt to draw a line under the region’s debt crisis.
Stronger-than-expected jobs data from U.S. private sector, which bode well for the key U.S. non-farm payroll figures due out on Friday, also encouraged investors to cover their bearish bets.
The jump helped the Nikkei scramble into positive territory for the week, adding 0.4 percent to snap a two-week losing run on concerns over sputtering growth in China, Japan’s largest exports market. It has risen 4.9 percent this year.
via Reuters
