BLOOMBERG
 
The Topix index rose a seventh day as the yen held losses after posting its steepest daily decline in a month on U.S. jobs data, outweighing a report that showed Japan’s recession was deeper than expected.
 
Bridgestone Corp., a maker of tires that gets about 81 percent of sales overseas, added 1.9 percent. Toyota Motor Corp. was the biggest contributor to gains on the Topix index, with the carmaker closing at its highest since March 2007. Sony Corp. dropped 3.3 percent amid mounting evidence linking North Korea to a hacking attack on the company’s film and television division.
 
The Topix rose 0.1 percent to 1,447.58 in Tokyo, closing at its highest since December 2007. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.1 percent to 17,935.64. The yen traded at 121.46 per dollar, holding losses after weakening 1.4 percent on Dec. 5., the largest decline since Nov. 3. U.S. stocks closed at records last week while European shares recovered from the biggest drop in seven weeks.
 
“With the yen weakening, stocks should also keep going higher,” said Khiem Do, who helps oversee about $60 billion as Hong Kong-based head of Asian multi-asset strategy at Baring Asset Management Ltd. “I don’t think the GDP downward revision matters much.”
 
Japan Economy
 
A report today showed Japan’s recession was deeper than initially estimated. Gross domestic product shrank an annualized 1.9 percent in the third quarter, more than the 1.6 percent drop estimated last month. Weaker-than-expected business investment compounded damage from a slump in consumer spending after a sales-tax rise in April.
 
Tiremakers led gains on the Topix. (TPX) Bridgestone, the nation’s largest maker of tires, rose 1.9 percent to 4,391 yen. Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. gained 1.4 percent to 2,527 yen after SMBC Nikkei Securities Inc. raised its price target to 2,600 yen from 2,200 yen on a weakening yen and cheaper raw materials.
 
Sony sank 3.3 percent to 2,590 yen as North Korea’s state-run news agency said the nation’s supporters may have been behind an attack on the company’s film and television unit.
 
Toyota added 1.5 percent to 7,858 yen as the world’s largest automaker rose a seventh day, its longest winning streak since Sept. 19.
 
U.S. Jobs
 
U.S. employers added 321,000 workers in November, marking the 10th straight month that employment increased by at least 200,000, the longest such stretch since 1995. The result exceeded the most optimistic projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists, while the jobless rate held at a six-year low of 5.8 percent. The Federal Reserve is weighing jobs growth as it meets next week to decide when the economy will be strong enough to withstand higher interest rates.
 
“After digesting the positive U.S. employment data and the weaker yen, the market could trade cautiously as it eyes the possibility of higher U.S. interest rates,” said Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo. “As U.S. stocks didn’t close very strongly, the market could be top-heavy.”
 
Election Season
 
Japanese voters head to the polls on Dec. 14, with the focus on economic policies. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decided to delay another sales-tax increase by 18 months and call a vote after the economy contracted in the September quarter. The Bank of Japan last month kept a pledge to expand the monetary base at an annual pace of 80 trillion yen.
 
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped less than 0.1 percent today after the underlying measure rose 0.2 percent on Dec. 5.
 
To contact the reporters on this story: Yuji Nakamura in Tokyo at ynakamura56@bloomberg.net; Yuko Takeo in Tokyo at ytakeo2@bloomberg.net