* Nikkei sheds 0.5 pct on day, gains 5.1 pct on week * Index heavyweight Fast Retailing weighs * Goldman Sachs expects Nikkei to reach 16,000 in 12 months By Tomo Uetake TOKYO, April 12 (Reuters) - Japanese shares slipped on Friday, coming off a near five-year high, but they still ended the week sharply higher, buoyed by optimism that bold central bank policies would revitalise the economy. The benchmark Nikkei closed 0.5 percent lower at 13,485.14. It opened up 0.1 percent at 13,568.25, its highest level since July 2008, before moving into negative territory. For the week, the benchmark rose 5.1 percent, the third consecutive weekly gain. "It"s been a tremendous week in terms of flow," said Stefan Worrall, director of equity cash sales at Credit Suisse. "It"s certainly less now than last Friday, which was the day after the BOJ decision and we had record flow." Worrall said the impact of the BOJ"s "shock and awe" has been waning a little over the week but there"s still fairly significant buy flow coming in from foreign investors and described the underlying tone as "bullish". "We really need to see the dollar to break above 100 yen in order to catalyze new flow, or acceleration of buy flow. I don"t think the rally is over," he said. Index heavyweight Fast Retailing weighed on the Nikkei, falling 0.9 percent after the Uniqlo operator left its full-year operating profit forecast unchanged at 147.5 billion yen ($ 1.5 billion), slightly below analysts" expectations. The broader Topix gained 0.1 percent to 1,148.57, with 4.57 billion shares changing hands in active trade. That compares with last month"s average trading volume of 3.24 billion shares. Shares in real estate companies rose 3.3 percent and outperformed the overall market as they were expected to benefit most from the reflationary drive. However, financials, which also have risen strongly on hopes for reflation in Japan, fell on profit-taking. The banking sector slipped 0.3 percent, with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group down 0.6 percent. "Unless there are strong catalysts to drive the market higher such as the yen weakening further to 100 yen against the dollar, profit-taking is natural given the steep rises," said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities. The dollar last traded around 99.43 yen on Friday, compared with the session high of 99.95 hit on Thursday, its highest level since April 2009. Other notable movers include Sharp Corp, which surged 7 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said the main creditor banks of the bailed-out consumer electronics maker were moving to maintain a 360 billion yen ($ 3.6 billion) loan deal as the company is seen to have met the condition for continued credit. The benchmark Nikkei has surged 52 percent since mid-November when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled in his election campaign expansionary fiscal and monetary policies to pull Japan out of deflation. OUTLOOK STILL UPBEAT Goldman Sachs said the BOJ"s commitment to beat deflation should be positive for earnings growth and stock prices. While the market may pause near term as investors digest earnings, the Nikkei will likely gain further in the long term, the brokerage said in a report. It raised the Nikkei"s 12-month target to 16,000 from 15,000. Others also shared Goldman"s optimism. "Investors are still looking for buying opportunities in the Japanese market although the current share prices have already factored in expectations for higher profits for this fiscal year," said Naoki Fujiwara, a fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management. He added that investors expect the yen to weaken further and the U.S. economy to recover steadily, which will serve as tailwinds to Japanese equities. - Link this
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Nikkei retreats from near 5-yr high, but up 5.1 pct on week
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