Nikkei edges up on exporters, Sumitomo Realty

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By Aiko Hayashi

TOKYO, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.14 percent on Friday, continuing to pull back from a more than 2 percent loss two days earlier as investors picked up exporters such as TDK Corp. (6762.T) after further gains on Wall Street and a softer yen.

Shares of Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. Ltd. (8830.T) jumped nearly 6 percent after Japan's third-largest property firm posted a 50 percent rise in group quarterly operating profit and revised up its first-half forecast due to improved profit margins in its condominium business.

"The Nikkei has been trimming gains since the opening as the market lacks domestic factors to actively keep buying stocks, and investors want to see U.S. jobs data and the market reaction there," said Yutaka Miura, deputy manager of the equity information department at Shinko Securities.

"Today's gains could still be limited within a rebound, and there's a possibility the Nikkei will erase yesterday's rise in the afternoon, depending the volume of selling and the yen's moves."

Miura said investors remain nervous about the U.S. subprime problem and its fallout as the Japanese market tends to move in step with the U.S. market as well as yen moves. He suspects the correction in the U.S. market may not be over yet.

The Nikkei .N225 ended the morning session up 24.56 points at 17,008.67.

On Wednesday, the Nikkei tumbled 2.19 percent to its lowest close since mid-March, hit by worries about a spreading credit crunch. It recovered somewhat on Thursday, gaining 0.67 percent.

The broader TOPIX index added 0.21 percent on Friday morning to 1,672.87.

The dollar steadied against the yen JPY=, holding above a four-month low, and was little changed at 119.14 yen from late U.S. trade on Thursday. [FRX/]

Trade volume slowed with 902 million shares changing hands, compared with last week's morning average volume of 1.1 billion. Declining shares outpaced advancers 930 to 654.

EXPORTERS UP, SUMITOMO REALTY STRONG

Shares of exporters rose with TDK up 5.3 percent at 9,310 yen, while Kyocera Corp. (6971.T) climbed 3.2 percent to 11,560.

Sumitomo Realty jumped 5.9 percent to 3,800 yen. It left its full-year forecast unchanged even though it achieved 39 percent of its annual goal in the first quarter alone.

Elsewhere, shares of Fullcast Co. Ltd. (4848.T) were swamped by sell orders, with its price indicated at 96,000 yen, down by its daily limit or 17 percent from the previous day's close.

Among stocks that were sold, Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. (9983.T) shed 1.5 percent to 6,720 yen after it said same-store sales at its Uniqlo casual clothing chain fell 11.7 percent in July. It blamed typhoons and heavy rain for discouraging people from shopping.