Tokyo stocks rally even as Nikkei frozen by glitch

TOKYO, Aug 14 (Reuters) Tokyo stocks rallied on Monday with the broad TOPIX index closing above 1,600 for the first time in more than a month, even though a computer glitch froze calculations of the closely watched Nikkei average.

With trade volume at its lowest in more than a year, investors turned to futures contracts helping to boost such Nikkei heavyweights as Fast Retailing Co. Ltd.

Calculations of the Nikkei, usually updated once a minute, stopped less than one hour into afternoon trade. Trade of individual shares continued as normal, forcing brokers to take the unprecedented step of calculating the benchmark's closing level on their own.

Index compiler Nihon Keizai Shimbun later estimated the Nikkei finished 1.88 percent higher at 15,857.11, which would mark its highest close since May.

The broad TOPIX index climbed 1.46 percent to 1,601.02, closing above 1,600 for the first time since early July.

The Nikkei was disrupted by a system error related to power outages that hit Tokyo early on Monday, a spokesman at Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. Traders had earlier reported problems with some computer systems due to the power outages.

With trade already razor thin because of Japan's summer holiday season, the power outages limited activity even further.

That made stocks particularly vulnerable to movements by futures, market participants said.

''Volumes are light so price movements can be exaggerated under these circumstances,'' said Marc Desmidt, head of the Japanese large-cap equity team at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.

A scant 1.31 billion shares changed hands on Monday, the lowest level since July 2005.

''I don't think the market would have advanced this easily had there been a lot more people trading,'' said Masayoshi Okamoto, head of dealing at Jujiya Securities.

Stocks such as Fast Retailing, which are are big contributors to the benchmark and are therefore often bought as a proxy for the Nikkei -- posted big gains.

The retailer ended up 4.7 percent at 10,320 yen.

Shares of Kyocera Corp. rose 2.4 percent to 9,730 yen.

After the close of trade, screens still showed the benchmark's last officially calculated price -- 15,790.82 as of 0425 GMT.

REUTERS AB DS1350