(Adds comment, stocks, details)
By Aiko Hayashi
TOKYO, April 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average rose
1 percent on Tuesday as Tokyo Electron Ltd <8035.T> jumped on a
brokerage upgrade, while resource-related shares such as trading
house Mitsui Co Ltd <8031.T> climbed after oil hit a record
closing high.
Investors returned to blue-chip issues such as Toyota Motor
Corp <7203.T> and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd <4502.T>, as they
have become rather cheap, said Takahiko Murai, general manager of
equities at Nozomi Securities.
"I'm seeing sporadic buying and short-covering after the
Japanese market fell too sharply yesterday, but investors remain
nervous ahead of this week's earnings announcements by U.S. banks
and financial institutions," he said.
The rocky ride for the U.S. stock market is expected to
continue this week, with earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase
<JPM.N>, Merrill Lynch <MER.N>, Citigroup <C.N> and other large
banks and financial services companies, as well as reams of
economic data.
The benchmark Nikkei average <> added 125.49 points to
end the morning at 13,043.00. It fell 3.1 percent on Monday to
book its lowest close since April 1.
The broader TOPIX index <> gained 1 percent or 12.39
points to 1,258.63.
On Monday, Wachovia Corp <WB.N>, the No.4 U.S. bank, said it
would cut its dividend, eliminate jobs and raise capital of $7
billion, becoming the latest casualty of the global credit
crunch. []
"After the news about Wachovia, investors couldn't actively
buy financials, but they now appear somewhat willing to buy on
dips as they are factoring in weak results from the sector," said
Zenshiro Mizuno, a senior managing director of the equity trading
division at Marusan Securities.
Mizuno said investors have already factored in profit
declines for Japanese steelmakers this year, shrugging off a
newspaper report that Nippon Steel Corp <5401.T> and JFE Holdings
Inc <5411.T> are likely to see double-digit falls in group pretax
profit in the year to next March due to high raw material and
energy costs. []
TOKYO ELECTRON IN FOCUS
Shares of Tokyo Electron advanced 4.5 percent to 6,050 yen,
becoming the biggest positive contributor to the Nikkei 225,
after Nomura Securities lifted its rating to "buy" from
"neutral," citing signs of a recovery in the chip-making
equipment industry as memory chip prices have started rising.
Advantest Corp <6857.T>, the world's largest maker of
microchip testers, climbed 3.6 percent to 2,760 yen.
Resource-related shares jumped after oil prices <CLc1> rose
to a record close on Monday on a weaker dollar and supply
disruptions ahead of the U.S. summer driving-demand season.
Mitsui rose 2.1 percent to 2,460 yen, while Mitsubishi Corp
<8058.T> climbed 2.3 percent to 3,590 yen and Itochu Corp
<8001.T> gained 2.7 percent to 1,125 yen.
Toyota rose 1.7 percent to 4,900 yen after booking its lowest
price for the year on Monday, while Takeda advanced 3.4 percent
to 5,160 yen.
Japan's financial shares regained ground, with top lender
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T> up 1.7 percent at 943
yen.
Shares of Nippon Steel jumped 3.4 percent to 516 yen and JFE
shot up 6.3 percent to 4,880 yen.
Trade was light on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with
767 million shares changing hands, compared with last week's
morning average of 840 million.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by 931 to 625.
(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
