Wednesday May 14, 08:43 AM
Tokyo shares close higher on Shanghai rebound; Nikkei above 14,000 - UPDATE
TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japanese shares closed higher for the third consecutive session on Wednesday as investors snapped up stocks following a rebound in the Shanghai market, with the key Nikkei index (news) settling above 14,000 for the first time since May 7.
The rebound in Shanghai and better-than-expected earnings at French bank BNP Paribas (Paris: FR0000131104 - news) helped Japanese stocks extend gains, said Yumi Nishimura, manager for equity marketing at Daiwa Securities SMBC.
BNP Paribas said its first-quarter net profit fell to 1.981 billion euros from 2.507 billion euros a
year earlier, beating analysts' estimates, as it credited a prudent risk policy for containing the impact of the global financial crisis.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 164.82 points or 1.2 percent to 14,118.55, adding to Tuesday's 210-point gain.
The broader Topix rose 12.99 points or 1 percent to 1,373.04.
Gainers outnumbered decliners 1,339 to 323 with 60 issues unchanged.
Volume rose to 2.21 billion shares from 1.91 billion shares on Tuesday.
Stocks advanced across the broad with communications, property and steel sectors among the
major gainers.
Shares of Nippon Telegraph & Telephone surged 11.2 percent to 498,000 yen after Nomura
Securities upgraded the stock to 'strong buy' from 'buy', citing the improved profitability of its optical fiber business.
NTT DoCoMo (Berlin: MCN.BE - news) climbed 2.6 percent to 159,000 yen, Sumitomo Realty & Development gained 7.2 percent to 2,770 yen and Nippon Steel (Berlin: NPS.BE - news) rose 2.4 percent to 599 yen.
Exporters rose on hopes a weaker yen will boost profit margins. Office equipment maker Canon (Berlin: CNN1.BE - news) rose 2.2 percent to 5,530 yen, Honda Motor (Paris: JP3854600008 - news) climbed 3.1 percent to 3,320 yen and digital camera maker Nikon (Berlin: NKN.BE - news) gained 2.2 percent to 3,260 yen.
Pioneer Corp (Munich: 857040 - news) . tumbled 17.5 percent to 909 yen after the electronics company reported a net loss for the fourth straight year as it continued to struggle in the highly competitive flat-panel TV market.
Pioneer said it is considering cutting staff via an early retirement scheme. The Nikkei newspaper reported Tuesday that the job cuts could reach 2,000, or some 5 percent of its
workforce
Big banks fell with Mizuho Financial Group shedding 1.2 percent to 517,000 yen, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (Berlin: MFZ.BE - news) down 2 percent to 1,055 yen and Mitsui Sumitomo Financial Group down 1 percent at 830,000 yen.
($1 = 104.85 yen)
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