In Tokyo on Friday the Nikkei 225 found itself at yet another four month high at the close on a combination of hopeful economic data, including the best jobs-to-applicants figures in over 10 years, good quarterly earnings reports, and strong results on the day from several companies.

Even so, the market’s overall rise was held back by other earnings results that were not as strong as others. The Nikkei was up 0.35 on the day to 11,899.60, while the Topix index gained 0.3 percent to 1,204.98.

Matsushita Electrical Industrial was up 5 percent to ¥1,832 on a more positive quarterly earnings report than had been expected.

Sony, however, fell 3.6 percent on a weak quarterly report and a full-year forecast that was cut by over 80 percent. Sony blamed weak sales and price declines in its television division for the unfavorable report.

Electronic parts manufacturer Kyocera lost 3.4 percent to ¥7,930 on a report of a 61 percent decline in quarterly profits. UBS subsequently downgraded Kyocera to “Neutral 2”.

Cosmetics manufacturer Shiseido, Japan’s largest, gained 8.3 percent to ¥1,532 on a quarterly report that showed the company returning to profits.

The company gave credit for the improvement to good sales in Japan and China and upgraded its full-year profit forecast by 35 percent.