Speaking of Japanese strength:
Nikkei edges up to 22-mth high on high-tech demand
TOKYO, July 15 (Reuters) - Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average edged forward to reach a 22-month high on Thursday as a string of news in high-tech stocks buoyed buying, traders said.
It reached its highest close since September 10, 1997.
''Overseas buyers that are still largely underweight on Japan have plugged into the high-techs' upward trend. They want technology/multimedia companies, and companies like Fujitsu fit their expectations,'' said Jeremy Markwick-Smith, a salesman at Paribas Capital Markets.
By the close, the Nikkei 225 average rose 74.00 points or 0.40 percent to 18,431.86. September Nikkei futures <0#JNI:> stood 110 points higher at 18,440.
Fujitsu Ltd shares were bought after the company said on Wednesday it and Nikko Securities planned an online brokerage joint venture that will begin operations in January 2000.
It climbed 225 yen or 7.61 percent to 3,180, while Nikko Securities added 100 yen or 10.64 percent to end at 1,040.
The high-technology sector has surged since Wednesday, when news that Morgan Stanley analyst Larry Adelman had added Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd to his ''40 Best Ideas Competitive Edge'' portfolio boosted buying in related issues.
Traders said a rise in the technology-driven Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC - news) of 1.44 percent to a record high overnight also helped Tokyo high-technology shares.
Softbank Corp shot up 3,000 yen or 9.43 percent to 34,800, Advantest Corp advanced 630 yen or 4.27 percent to 15,400, and Tokyo Electron rose 420 yen or 4.52 percent to 9,720.
Softbank said on Wednesday it plans to sell its 80 percent stake in California-based memory-module maker Kingston Technology Co to Kingston's founders for about $450 million.
Yahoo Japan Corp was up two million yen or 4.04 percent at 51.5 million, after the Internet search engine firm reported on Wednesday an almost eight-fold rise in its April-June quarterly earnings from a year earlier.
Yahoo Japan also announced on Wednesday that it would carry out a two-for-one share split on November 19 for shareholders as of September 30.
Traders said good news in individual high-technology stocks is cushioning the market against profit-taking after Wednesday's surge.
''Institutional investors seem keen to buy large-cap stocks, but they are battling a certain amount of profit-taking,'' said Kiyoshi Joho, investment management chief at Marusan Securities Co.
Matsushita itself fell back on profit-taking on Thursday, along with other names that led Wednesday's surge including TDK Corp , and Ricoh Co Ltd .
Securities houses were sharply higher, with second-tier brokerages New Japan Securities Co Ltd up 31 yen or 9.94 percent at 343, Wako Securities Co Ltd up 50 yen or 15.02 percent at 383 and Taiheiyo Securities Co Ltd up 25 yen or 10.78 percent at 257.
Several second-tier brokerages rose on expectations that earnings results for the April-June quarter, due for release after the market's close, would be favourable.
''These stocks are being bought on hopes that the recent market rally will boost their earnings. Investors are searching for any kind of issue that looks like it has lagged the market or is cheap,'' said a trader and investment information manager at a second-tier brokerage.
Japan's three biggest securities houses, Nomura Securities Co Ltd , Daiwa Securities Group , and Nikko Securities Co Ltd , all hit new highs for this year during the day.
But despite the interest in high-techs and securities, the breadth of buying in the market was narrow with decliners outpacing advancers 637 to 557, and 131 issues unchanged.
Traders said the Nikkei is unlikely to resume a strong uptrend until buying broadens beyond high-technology shares.
A total of 765.01 million shares changed hands on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, against 765.90 million shares on Wednesday.
Broader indexes were all higher. The TOPIX index of all first-section shares advanced 14.66 points or 0.98 percent to 1,511.73. The Nikkei 300 gained 2.39 points or 0.81 percent to end at 297.96. The second section index rose 17.37 points or 0.74 percent to 2,350.08.
Tokyu Department Store Co Ltd was up 50 yen or 36.76 percent at 186 after it said it is mulling selling off a closed store in central Tokyo.
biz.yahoo.com |
