TOKYO: Japanese stocks opened to choppy trade Wednesday but soon managed to pull higher, with The Nikkei Stock Average NIK, +0.23% up 0.4% about 45 minutes into trade, trimming a 1.8% drop Tuesday. The Topix I0000, +0.20% firmed by 0.3%, and the dollar USDJPY, -0.85% was changing hands for ¥124.25, not too far from its ¥124.14 low Tuesday. The tech and industrial blue chips were mixed, but sentiment was helped by a surprise gain in Japanese core machinery orders, often tracked as an indicator of capital spending. Gainers included Sony Corp. 6758, +2.04% SNE, -0.44% (up 0.4%), Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. 7012, +0.83% KWHIY, -0.43% (up 1.3%), and Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.30% suppliers Japan Display Inc. 6740, +1.35% (up 2.1%) and Sharp Corp. 6753, +1.19% SHCAF, -14.63% (up 1.8%) a day after the U.S. tech major’s developer conference. Stock in Mitsui Fudosan Co. 8801, +2.70% MTSFF, -5.47% rallied 3.6% as Crain’s New York Business reported new tenants at the New York City Hudson Yards development partly owned by the Japanese property company’s U.S. arm. Komatsu Ltd. 6301, +1.34% KMTUF, -2.18% traded 2% higher after Canada’s Suncor Energy was reported earlier this week ordering 175 Komatsu driverless trucks. Top-weighted Nikkei Average component Fast Retailing Co. 9983, +0.73% FRCOF, -1.74% added 0.5% after a 2% drop in Tuesday trade when Société Générale cut its rating on the shares all the way to sell from buy. The overnight rally in oil futures helped lift energy shares (Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. 1662, +0.38% JPTXF, -21.98% up 1.5%, Inpex Corp. 1605, +1.96% IPXHY, +0.50% up 3.1%) and trading houses (Mitsui & Co. 8031, +0.78% MITSY, -0.93% up 1.1%, Itochu Corp. 8001, +0.62% ITOCY, -1.40% up 1.2%). Among decliners, Konica Minolta Inc. 7731, -0.20% KNCAY, -0.94% fell 1.2%, Casio Computer Co. 6952, -2.00% CSIOY, -0.88% lost 2.9%, and Nissan Motor Co. 7201, -0.24% NSANY, -2.15% dropped 0.3% despite an upbeat forecast for China sales at its Infiniti unit.
