*Nikkei up 2.2 percent, lifted by strong U.S. GDP data
*Fujifilm plunges after cutting outlook
*Banks rise after rally in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
(Adds stocks and comment)
By Taiga Uranaka
TOKYO, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average rose 2.2 percent
on Friday, led by exporters such as Canon Inc <7751.T> as
surprisingly strong U.S. GDP data helped soothe concerns about
the health of the world's biggest economy. []
Fujifilm Holdings <4901.T> plunged after slashing its annual
operating profit forecast by nearly a quarter. []
All top three banks, including No.1 lender Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group <8306.T>, gained more than 3 percent after
troubled U.S. housing financing giants and bond insurers jumped
on Wall Street.
"With good U.S. GDP and sharp gains in Fannie and Freddie
shares, investor worries have been eased for now," said Norio
Shimura, deputy head of the equity department at Chuo Securities,
referring to U.S. mortgage financing firms Fannie Mae <FNM.N> and
Freddie Mac <FRE.N>.
"There is also the expectation that foreign investors will
come back to the market after the Labor Day holiday," he said.
The U.S. market will be closed on Monday.
The benchmark Nikkei <> ended the morning up 279.37
points at 13,047.62. The broader Topix <> climbed 2.3
percent to 1,247.49.
A raft of Japanese economic data came out before the market
opened, including industrial output, which rose 0.9 percent in
July from a month earlier, above a median market forecast for a
0.5 percent decline. []
"The figure was so-so. Not good enough but not bad either, so
it did not prevent the positive U.S. data and drop in oil prices
from translating straight into gains in the Tokyo market," said
Masanobu Takahashi, chief strategist at Ichiyoshi Securities.
FUJIFILM PLUNGES
Fujifilm slid 9.5 percent to 3,130 yen. The firm said its
profits were hurt by higher raw material prices and heavier
restructuring costs, with the revised outlook missing market
estimates by a large margin.
UBS Investment Research cut its rating on the company to
"neutral" from "buy" and its target price to 3,500 from 4,200
yen. Other brokerages also cut their target prices.
Digital camera maker Canon rose 2.7 percent to 4,920 yen and
high-tech device maker Kyocera Corp <6971.T> climbed 2.3 percent
to 9,220 yen.
Mitsubishi UFJ rose 3.3 percent to 837 yen and No.2 lender
Mizuho Financial Group <8411.T> gained 3.1 percent to 466,000
yen.
Videogame maker Tecmo <9650.T> was awash with buy orders at
806 yen, up 14 percent from Thursday's close, after its rival
Square Enix Co <9684.T> said on it aims to buy more than half of
Tecomo shares at 920 yen each. []
Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> rose 2.9 percent to 4,910 yen. The
automaker's shares ended unchanged on Thursday after it cut its
2009 vehicle sales forecast by nearly 7 percent.
High fuel prices are hammering demand in Western markets, and
Toyota promised to speed up the rollout of fuel-saving cars to
respond to changing consumer needs. []
"Even though Toyota cut its sales outlook, worries that the
automaker might be on a slippery slope receded after it mapped
out solutions to its problems," said Ichiyoshi's Takahashi.
Trade was light but picked up significantly from the last
four days of this week, with 775 million shares changing hands,
compared with last week's daily average of 784 million.
Advancing shares beat declining ones by more than eight to
one.
(Editing by Sophie Hardach)
