Nikkei up 2.2 pct on US earnings hopes, Mazda jumps

By Aiko Hayashi

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average climbed 2.2 percent on Thursday, boosted by shares of high-tech exporters on a weaker yen and after results from Intel Corp (INTC.O) lifted hopes for a rebound in technology spending.

Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T) surged nearly 9 percent after the Nikkei business daily said Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) plans to supply Mazda with core components for hybrid vehicles.

"In addition to hopes for a recovery in U.S. corporate earnings, investors are welcoming growing signs of a recovery in U.S. economic data," said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief equity marketing officer at Tokai Tokyo Securities.

U.S. manufacturing data released yesterday suggested the recession is abating, and minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent policy-setting meeting showed officials judged that the U.S. economy's contraction was slowing.

In moderate trade, the benchmark Nikkei .N225 gained 205.79 points to 9,475.04 and the broader Topix advanced 2.3 percent to 885.98.

But a fall in U.S. stock futures, partly on deepening troubles for U.S. firm CIT CIT.N, a major lender to small and mid-sized businesses, put a lid on sharper gains for the Nikkei, Kuramochi said.

A U.S. Treasury official said that the Treasury and other federal agencies had explored several aid solutions to rescue CIT Group from collapse, but that its liquidity situation had deteriorated to the point where these became unworkable.

"Investors took media reports about CIT negatively and that weighed on U.S. futures, although its potential failure has been somewhat factored in," Kuramochi said.

But a media report on China's growth figure ahead of the official announcement provided support to the market, said Yumi Nishimura, a deputy general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

China's economy grew by 7.9 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the Beijing Times newspaper said, citing an unnamed official. The median forecast of economists polled by Reuters is for second-quarter growth of 7.5 percent from a year earlier.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) confirmed the 7.9 percent growth figure after the Tokyo market closed for the midday break.

EXPORTERS HIGHER

Among tech exporters, Canon Inc (7751.T) advanced 3.3 percent to 3,130 yen and Advantest (6857.T) added 3.9 percent to 1,809 yen. Electronics components maker TDK Corp (6762.T) jumped 4.8 percent to 4,330 yen.

Shares of Japanese chip-related stocks such as Advantest had made some modest gains on Wednesday in the wake of Intel's results, but the Nikkei ended the day flat as investors grew cautious ahead of more earnings results.

On Wednesday, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX gained 3 percent. Intel's quarterly results and outlook blew past Wall Street forecasts on better-than-expected consumer demand for PCs, especially in Asia.