LONDON (ShareCast) - The Nikkei rose on Wednesday as bargain hunters moved in and as energy shares recovered from the previous session's sell-off. Shares in Inpex and Nippon Oil (Berlin: NIO.BE
- news) put in a bumper performance.
Modest buyer appetite returned despite a government report showing Japanese exports fell sharply in May. The report raised fears about the country's economic recovery but failed to stifle interest in Japanese equities.
The weaker yen against the dollar helped demand for exporters such as Sony (Munich: 853687 - news) , Canon (Berlin: CNN1.BE - news) , Honda and Toyota.
Endoscope maker Olympus (Munich: 856840 - news) rose 2.7% while Softbank (Xetra: 891624 - news) was up over 6% after upbeat broker coverage from UBS Securities.
Financials were mostly lower with shares in Mitsubishi Tokyo down 1.3% while Mizuho Financial was off nearly 1%.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 (news) index closed up 40 points at 9,590 in Tokyo.
It was a bad day for retailers on concern about future earnings. J Front Retailing fell 3.1% 412 yen while Seven & I lost 2.6% to 2,220 yen. Department store chain UNY slumped over 5% to 787 yen.
The Hang Seng advanced, with commodities spearheading gains. Cnooc (0883.HK - news) was up over 1% in Hong Kong while shares in Angang Steel surged 8.1% on speculation that a potential iron-ore discovery in China. Jiangxi Copper rose 5.2%.
The Hang Seng index closed up 353 points at 17,892 in Hong Kong.
Heavyweights HSBC (LSE: HSBA.L - news) and China Mobile (0941.HK - news) were both up over 1% while banks ICBC (0349.HK - news) , Bank of Communications and Bank of China were all in demand.
Shares in Hong Kong property firms put in a stellar performance after China Overseas Land & Investment said sales surged in the first five months of the year. New World Development was up 3% at HK$13.
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