Nikkei little changed as Fanuc weighs, Toyota up

TOKYO, May 24 (Reuters) The Nikkei average was little changed on Wednesday as investors sold some exporters such as Fanuc Ltd. due to concern about the continuing slide in U.S. stocks, but several leading firms such as Toyota Motor Corp. were boosted by bargain hunters.

Commodities firms advanced, with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co.

Ltd. jumping more than 5 percent after copper posted its largest daily gain on record on Tuesday.

Worries that the world's largest stock market may continue to founder weighed on Japanese equities, said Takashi Ushio, head of the investment strategy division at Marusan Securities.

''We still can't see signs of a coming rebound in U.S. stocks.

The main cause of the weakness in global markets at the moment is the fact the U.S. can't stop sliding.'' ''Unless the U.S. improves, investors won't be able to feel confident here.'' The Nikkei was gaining just 0.38 percent, or 58.82 points, at 15,655.25 as of 0509 GMT. On Tuesday it fell for the ninth session out of 11, hitting its lowest close since Feb. 20.

The TOPIX index was up 0.46 percent at 1,586.55.

Fanuc, a maker of industrial robots, was down 1.4 percent at 9,870 yen.

Camera maker Olympus Corp. fell 2.2 percent to 3,120 yen.

But Toyota gained 2 percent to 6,070 yen. Shares of the world's second-largest auto maker are now down about 10 percent since the start of this month.

Canon Inc., the world's biggest digital camera maker, rose 0.8 percent to 8,020 yen.

Sumitomo Metal Mining rose 5.3 percent to 1,498 yen after copper prices made their biggest daily gain on record on Tuesday.

REUTERS CS HS1113