TOKYO: Japan stocks surged on Thursday morning trade, putting some points on the board, with the Nikkei Average (JP: NIK) gained 0.8% as shareholders shopped for bargains following the last day’s 1.7% pullback.
The broader Topix was up 0.6%, and the yen was lower, with the dollar (USDYEN) buying Yen117.60, up from Yen117.01 at the previous Tokyo stock close. Tech names favored by global investors were among the top gainers, with Sony Corp. (JP:6758) (SNE) up 2.4%, Canon Inc. (JP:7751) (CAJ) up 1.3%, TDK Corp. (JP:6762) (TTDKF) up 2%, and Nintendo Co. (JP:7974) (NTDOF) up 2.2%. Bridgestone Corp. (JP:5108) (BRDCF) rallied 3.2%, and Inpex Corp. (JP:1605) (IPXHY) added 3.1% on a rebound in crude-oil futures, while Toyota Motor Corp. (JP:7203) (TM) advanced 1.6%. A disappointing read on Japan’s November machinery orders (core orders up 1.3% against a Wall Street Journal forecast gain of 5.1%) may have slightly limited the gains for industrials, with Fanuc Corp. (JP:6954) (FANUF) up 0.5% and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (JP:7011) (MHVYF) up 0.4%. Also underperforming the Nikkei Average, Softbank Corp. (JP:9984) (SFTBF) traded flat after a Wall Street Journal report said the telecom was investing in the maker of Chinese ride-sharing-app Kuaidi Dache. Meanwhile, losses overnight for financial shares on the U.S. market appeared to weigh on some of their Japanese peers, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (JP:8306) (MTU) down 0.1%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (JP:8316) (SMFG) down 0.2% and Nomura Holdings Inc. (JP:8604) (NRSCF) down a more solid 1.2%. Real-estate names also looked mostly weaker, with Mitsui Fudosan Co. (JP:8801) (MTSFF) down 0.8% and Mitsubishi Estate Co. (JP:8802) (MITEF) and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. (JP:8830) (SURDF) off 0.9% each. But stock in Oriental Land Co. (JP:4661) (OLCLY) rose 0.5% as a Nikkei news report said the company would report its second-highest-ever nine-month operating profit, thanks to good visitor traffic at its Tokyo Disney Resort property.
