Tuesday October 20, 05:11 AM
Japan Hot Stocks-Trading houses, Inpex, United Arrows, Sumitomo
TOKYO, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The benchmark Nikkei (news) average rose 0.8 percent and the broader Topix rose 0.7 percent on Tuesday.
The following stocks were on the move:
**TRADING HOUSES EXTEND GAINS AS METALS, RISE (Xetra: 915677 - news) **
Mitsubishi Corp (MBC.IL - news) and other trading houses extended gains made on Monday as oil and metals prices, particularly copper, rose.
Shanghai copper rose to near six-week highs on Tuesday as the dollar fell to its weakest level in 14 months, boosting the appeal of commodities.
U.S. crude oil futures climbed to a one-year high of $80.05 a barrel.
Mitsubishi Corp rose 2.3 percent to 2,030 yen, Mitsui & (Munich: 853656 - news) amp; Co rose 2.1 percent to 1,289 yen, and Sojitz gained 1.7 percent to 177 yen.
0347 GMT
**INPEX CLIMBS AS U.S. CRUDE HITS 1-YEAR HIGH**
Shares in oil and gas field developer Inpex rose 2.8 percent to 822,000 yen as U.S. crude futures climbed to a one-year high of $80.05 a barrel on a weak dollar and firm U.S. stock market, though they later fell back slightly.
0336 GMT
**UNITED ARROWS UP ON J.P. MORGAN OVERWEIGHT RATING**
Shares of United Arrows Ltd rose 12.3 percent to 879 yen after J.P. Morgan initiated coverage on the clothing retailer with an 'overweight' rating and a target price of 1,080 yen.
J.P. Morgan said it expects profitability to improve over the medium term, helped by a more efficient cost structure, and that it did not believe the value of its online sales has been factored into the stock price.
The third main reason it cited for the overweight rating is an expectation that changes in fashion trends and a normalisation of consumer sentiment one year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH - news) would help fashion retailers like United Arrows (Berlin: UTA.BE - news) .
'We think United Arrows and other apparel companies that target fashion-conscious consumers are likely to benefit the soonest from such growth in demand,' J.P. Morgan said in a research note to clients.
0200 GMT
**SUMITOMO CORP GAINS AFTER ANNOUNCING JV PLAN WITH NISSAN**
Sumitomo Corp (Munich: 860364 - news) , Japan's third-biggest trading house, rose 2.3 percent to 952 yen after it and Nissan Motor Co (Berlin: NISA.BE - news) announced plans to set up a joint venture to recycle lithium-ion batteries to be used in Nissan cars. Nissan gained 0.6 percent.
Toshiyuki Shiga, Nissan's CEO, said at a news conference they expect the initial cost of electric vehicles to decrease if used batteries, which will retain 70 to 80 percent of their residual capacity after the end of a normal vehicle's life, are recycled in various applications such as back-up power supplies at home and in offices.
Nissan plans to start volume sales of electric vehicles globally by the 2012 financial year.
0200 GMT
**GLASSMAKERS UP AFTER DISRUPTION AT CORNING LCD TAIWAN PLANT**
Liquid crystal display glassmakers Asahi Glass Co Ltd and Nippon Electric Glass rose after bigger rival Corning Inc (NYSE: GLW - news) said a power disruption at its LCD plant in Taichung would hurt its glass production.
Asahi Glass (Berlin: SHJ.BE - news) rose 3.7 percent and Nippon Electric Glass was up 2.2 percent on expectations that any shortage at Corning, the world's largest maker of glass for LCD screens, would help rivals' sales.
0126 GM
**MARUHA NICHIRO FALLS AFTER SLASHING PROFIT F'CAST (CAS.NX - news) **
Maruha Nichiro Holdings slid 2.8 percent to 137 yen after the seafood processor cut its operating profit forecast for the year to March by 35 percent to 13 billion yen ($143 million), citing dwindling consumer spending and falling prices for fish including bluefin tuna.
0118 GMT
**KOMATSU LTD CLIMBS AFTER REPORT OF UPBEAT EARNINGS** Komatsu (Berlin: KOM1.BE - news) advanced 2.6 percent to 1,844 yen after the Nikkei business daily said the maker of earth-moving machines likely secured about 10 billion yen ($110 million) in operating profit for the July-September quarter on strong demand for construction machinery in China and other emerging countries.
For the first half to September, the company's operating profit likely exceeded its earlier forecast of 15 billion yen, the Nikkei said.
Komatsu said in a statement the reported figures were not based on an announcement by the company and it plans to report results on Oct. 29.
0040 GMT
**NIDEC UP AFTER ACQUISITION AGREEMENT**
Nidec (Frankfurt: 878403 - news) gained 130 yen, or 1.8 percent, to 7,400 yen after the maker of hard disk drive motors said it would buy Italy's Sole Motors, which makes motors for home appliances, to expand its reach in Europe and strengthen its mid and small motors business.
Nidec did not disclose terms of deal. The Nikkei business daily reported that the purchase of unlisted Sole would cost Nidec about 6 billion yen ($66 million).
0016 GMT
**ADVANTEST GAINS AFTER REPORT OF STRONG ORDERS**
Advantest (Berlin: VAN.BE - news) gained 1.6 percent to 2,505 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported orders for Advantest's chip-testing devices rose about 21 percent quarter-on-quarter to 14 billion yen ($154 million) in the July-September period, beating the company's forecast by 4 billion yen.
The improvement in orders was led by testers for DDR3 chips, which are faster than older types of DRAM and command higher prices, the Nikkei said.
0008 GMT
(Reporting by Tokyo newsroom)
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