Japan's Nikkei edges up, Fast Retailing gains

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By Taiga Uranaka

TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average edged up on Thursday, with casual clothing firm Fast Retailing Co Ltd (9983.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), whose weighting makes it the second-biggest contributor to the Nikkei, climbing 2 percent on strong sales.

Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) jumped 5.7 percent after the firm said it was negotiating for its share of revenue from four nuclear reactor orders in the United States, which other firms estimate to be worth a total of $14 billion. [ID:nT85814]

But the market spent most of the morning in negative territory as investors locked in profits after a rally and ahead of U.S. jobs figures.

"The market is taking a wait-and-see stance ahead of U.S. jobs data on Friday. Bernanke's comments make me think the data will be bad," Fumiyuki Nakanishi, group manager of investment research department at SMBC Friend Securities.

"Predictably there was profit-taking after yesterday's sharp gains," he said.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke conceded for the first time on Wednesday that the U.S. economy may slip into recession but said growth should pick up later this year as interest rate cuts and other emergency steps take root. [ID:nN02415454]

Japanese stocks surged on Wednesday with credit market fears easing after a capital boost by Lehman Brothers LEH.N and a write-down by Swiss Bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).