Japan's Nikkei edges up, Fast Retailing gains
(Adds stocks and comments)
TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average edged up on Thursday, with casual clothing firm Fast Retailing Co Ltd (9983.T), whose weighting makes it the second-biggest contributor to the Nikkei, climbing 2 percent on strong sales.
Toshiba Corp (6502.T) 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).
Still, few expected to see a sustained gain, with investors turning their attention to earnings by U.S. banks including Citigroup (C.N) later this month.
"It's too early to say the worst is completely over. We are still waiting to see how much losses large banks will report," said Hitoshi Yamamoto, CEO of Fortis Asset Management Japan.
"Also technically, the market faces heavy selling pressure at Nikkei levels above 13,000," where a relatively large number of positions are seen to have been built up.
The benchmark Nikkei .N225 ended the morning up 0.1 percent at 13,200.71, after surging more than 4 percent to a one-month high the previous day. The broader TOPIX also gained 0.1 percent, to 1,282.78.
NUCLEAR REACTION
Toshiba rose to 777 yen, among the top percentage gainers in the Nikkei.
Units of utility firms Southern Co (SO.N) and SCANA Corp (ACG.N) have indicated they would use Toshiba's Westinghouse AP1000 reactor technology in applications to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission [ID:QnN31432088].
"Among oversold Japanese blue-chip stocks, those with good news like Toshiba will become the first ones to lure back investors," said Fortis' Yamamoto.
The news sent up other nuclear-related firms, with Japan Steel Works Ltd (5631.T) jumping 4.9 percent to 1,889 yen. The company makes nuclear power generator components such as high pressure reactor vessels.
Fast Retailing rose to 9,420 yen after it said same-store sales at its domestic Uniqlo casual clothing chain in March rose 8.1 percent from a year earlier thanks to strong sales of spring items and women's pants.
Financial shares were mixed, with Japan's No. 2 bank Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T) down 2 percent at 396,000 yen.
Oil and gas field developer Inpex Holdings Inc (1605.T) jumped 2.7 percent to 1.14 million yen after U.S. crude oil futures rose.
Trade picked up, with 953 million shares changing hands, compared with last week's daily average of 740 million.
Declining shares beat advancing ones of 971 to 604. (Editing by Chris Gallagher)
