Policy Stances: Points and Managers Index

policy stances: On Friday, the key market gauge lost 6.83 points. ; But the Topix, including all first-section issues, closed down 1.13 points, or 0.07 percent, at 1,673.62, after falling 1.42 points the previous trading day, according to The Japan Times. Stocks got off to a firm start and gained ground after the dollar strengthened on the back of the brisk Chicago purchasing managers index for September and media reports that U.S. President Donald Trump has met with potential Federal Reserve chair candidates who are viewed as having hawkish monetary policy stances, brokers said. The Nikkei 225 average rose 44.50 points, or 0.22 percent, to end at 20,400.78, its highest closing since Aug. 18, 2015. The Tokyo market was also backed by robust overseas stock markets on Friday, in which the Dow Jones industrial average rose for the third straight day and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index hit a closing high, brokers said. Domestic and overseas institutional investors were absent from Monday's trading, said an official of a bank-affiliated brokerage firm, explaining that trading was therefore thin. Individual investors showed appetites for small-cap issues in the Tokyo market, but large-cap issues remained downbeat, leading to the fall of the Topix, market sources said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.