Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1 percent on Friday, snapping a three-day losing streak on hopes for a new U.S. government programme to help troubled homeowners and gains in tech shares such as TDK Corp (6762.T), with rises in Asian shares providing an additional boost. But Pioneer Corp (6773.T) tumbled, losing a fifth of its value after the Japanese electronics maker said it would cut 10,000 jobs and exit its loss-making flat TV business, a move that could signal a further shake-out in the battered sector. [ID:nT361482] U.S. stocks staged a late rally to close mostly higher on Thursday after Reuters reported the Obama administration is hammering out a programme to subsidise mortgages in a new front to fight the credit crisis. [.N] [ID:nN12553515] Though positive sentiment lingered from this to boost Tokyo shares by sparking short-covering, much of the euphoria had vanished by afternoon. "Some people think that the U.S. proposals haven't really covered enough, but you have to look at the scale of what they're dealing with," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities. "The fact that they're trying to tackle it at all should be taken positively, but the whole problem is just so complicated." Much of the Nikkei's upward momentum came from the yen's retreat against the dollar, but this lost steam as well. By afternoon the dollar clung to narrow gains of roughly 0.1 percent at just below 91 yen Asian shares also buoyed the Nikkei, with the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up 2 percent. The benchmark Nikkei .N225 gained 74.04 points to 7,779.40 but lost 3.7 percent for the week, its first negative week in three weeks. The broader Topix rose 0.6 percent to 764.59. EYES ON EVENTS Energy diminished as the day wore on, with investors reluctant to take on new positions ahead of a meeting of Group of Seven finance officials in Rome on Friday and Saturday and Japanese gross domestic product "Mainly the market response to G7 depends on what the yen does. If some new sort of economic proposal or statement on currencies comes out, there could be a positive response," said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management. "But I don't think that people are really expecting much."

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