Japanese stocks rise, techs up after Nasdaq gains
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TOKYO, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1.2 percent on Friday as investors snapped up TDK Corp (6762.T) and other recently battered high-tech shares following gains in their U.S. peers.
The Nikkei is still poised to end the week down about 3 percent and earlier dipped below the psychologically key 15,000 level for the fist time in nearly a month, reflecting concerns over the health of the U.S. economy.
TDK, Kyocera Corp (6971.T) and other technology shares were bought after the tech-heavy U.S. Nasdaq index .IXIC surged 1.5 percent, helped by a reassuring earnings outlook from software giant Oracle Corp (ORCL.O).
"The Nasdaq lifted high-tech shares," said Tomomi Yamashita, fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management, adding that tech shares are relatively immune to year-end selling by hedge funds because they have built up bigger positions in resource-related shares.
Hitachi Ltd (6501.T) also rose sharply after the Nikkei business daily said the firm plans to sell a minority stake in its struggling hard disk drive business to U.S. investment fund Silver Lake.
Electronics components maker TDK rose 3.8 percent to 8,200 yen, the biggest contributor to the Nikkei average, followed by cellphone parts maker Kyocera, which gained 2.6 percent to 9,830 yen.
Still, the gains are seen limited with investors quick to cash gains ahead of a three-day weekend. The market will be closed on Monday for a national holiday.
"The market is in the process of pricing in investor anxieties," said Yoshihiro Ito at Okasan Capital Management, pointing out various factors including subprime problems, interest rates and rising oil prices.
Yet, he said the market is likely to turn upward next year, as economic conditions are expected to prove better than predicted in share prices.
"I think January to March will be the best buy season," he said.
The benchmark Nikkei .N225 ended the morning session up 1.2 percent at 15,205.16 and the broader TOPIX gained 0.6 percent to 1,465.64.
Trade was light, with 878 million shares changing hands, compared with last week's morning average of 1 billion. Advancing shares outnumbered decliners by 837 to 745.
ELECTRONICS IN SPOTLIGHT
Hitachi jumped 3.1 percent to 801 yen as the market welcomed the news. Continued...
