Nikkei rises 1 pc, exporters up after US gains

Tokyo, June 1: The Nikkei share average rose 1.06 percent on Thursday on gains in exporters such as Canon Inc. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd., after a recovery in U.S. stocks helped ease investor concerns about a slowdown in the world's biggest economy.

But gains were curbed as investors were still wary about the risk of inflation in the United States due to high oil prices and anticipated improvement in employment and production, and how the central bank will deal with it.

The market was awaiting a series of U.S. economic data, including Friday's U.S. jobs report.

''It looks to me a temporary gain here,'' said Susumu Abe, manager at Mito Securities' information and investment department.

''The sentiment has been bruised by a number of factors, and it doesn't look easy to be fixed. The key issue is the U.S., where there is probability of a rise in interest rates and a slowdown in the economy happening at the same time,'' he said.

The Nikkei was up 164.21 points at 15,631.54 as of 0100 GMT.

On Wednesday it lost 2.47 percent, its biggest one-day percentage fall in five weeks, and hit its lowest close since February.

The TOPIX index was up 1.28 percent at 1,600.12.

Canon, the world's biggest digital camera maker, gained 1.8 percent to 7,900 yen, trimming the previous day's 4.2 percent drop.

Honda, Japan's third-biggest auto maker whose bulk of sales comes from the United States, was up 1.9 percent at 7,460 yen.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's most profitable car maker, was up 2 percent at 6,050 yen.

SUMCO Corp., a maker of silicon wafers, climbed 4.1 percent to 6,890 yen after the company said on Wednesday its first-quarter earnings outpaced what it initially expected.

Soy sauce manufacturer Kikkoman Corp. jumped 7.8 percent to 1,537 yen. Daiwa Institute of Research on Wednesday raised its rating on the stock to ''1'' from ''2'', saying the company has entered a growth stage for the mid to long term.

Reuters