Nikkei rises as Honda, blue chips advance

TOKYO, Aug 22 (Reuters) The Nikkei share average rose 0.48 percent on Tuesday as shares of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and other blue-chip stocks recouped losses from the previous session, bolstered by confidence in their earnings.

Shares of energy-related firms such as Nippon Oil Corp. also gained, as higher crude oil prices boosted expectations of better earnings.

Investors were shifting funds back into Honda, brokerage Nomura Holdings Inc. and other firms seen as the leaders of corporate Japan, said Yoku Ihara, manager of the investment information department at Retela Crea Securities.

''It is companies that are most representative of Japan,'' Ihara said. ''Investors are picking banks, steel makers and Nomura.'' The Nikkei was up 76.51 points at 16,045.55 as of 0059 GMT.

The broader TOPIX index was up 0.37 percent at 1,630.17.

The TOPIX Core 30, which tracks the performance of some of Japan's biggest and best-known firms, rose 0.48 percent.

Honda, Japan's third-largest auto maker, rose 1.3 percent to 3,930 yen, after a decline of 2 percent in the previous session.

Nomura, Japan's largest brokerage, rose 2.5 percent to 2,255 after a drop of 2 percent on Monday.

Oil firms also gained after crude oil futures edged higher on Tuesday, topping a barrel on Tuesday.

Nippon Oil rose 4.2 percent to 958 yen.

Shares of Kiyo Holdings Inc. jumped 9.2 percent to 213 yen after the regional lender said on Tuesday it might apply for a public fund injection but had not yet made any concrete decisions.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily reported that Kiyo Bank, a unit of Kiyo Holdings, is planning to apply for a public fund injection of between 20 and 30 billion yen to shore up capital and clean up bad loans.

REUTERS SK BST0654