Nikkei gains as Tokyo Electron, techs rise

Tokyo, Nov 15: The Nikkei rose 0.36 percent on Wednesday as Tokyo Electron Ltd. gained on a record profit and higher forecast, while other chip-related stocks continued to benefit from expectations of growing demand ahead of Microsoft Corp.'s next version of Windows.

Shares of Myojo Foods Co. Ltd. advanced after the instant noodle maker said it was considering capital ties with industry leader Nissin Food Products to ward off a hostile takeover bid from a U.S. investment fund.

Tokyo Electron rose 2.3 percent to 8,960 yen. The microchip equipment maker said on Tuesday net profit jumped 55 percent due to strong demand from makers of computer memory chips, ahead of Microsoft's launch of the Windows Vista operating system.

''As we saw from Tokyo Electron's earnings results ... it has a pretty bullish outlook on the (chip) industry. The company is expecting orders to increase next year,'' said Hideyuki Suzuki, investment information manager at SBI Securities.

''With the coming release of Windows Vista ... demand for (memory) chips and electronic components is likely to increase,'' Suzuki said.

The Nikkei was up 67.26 points at 16,356.81 as of 0007 GMT.

The broader TOPIX index was up 0.59 percent at 1,605.84.

Advantest Corp., the world's largest supplier of microchip testers, gained 4 percent to 6,230 yen.

Nikon Corp, which manufactures chip-making equipment as well as cameras, rose 4.9 percent to 2,470 yen.

SBI Suzuki's said Japanese chip stocks were also helped by gains by their U.S. peers.

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange's semiconductor index climbed 2.8 percent on Tuesday, while U.S. chip heavyweights Qualcomm Inc. and Intel Corp. both posted gains of around 4 percent.

Myojo Foods, which is currently facing a hostile takeover bid from a U.S. investment fund, rose 2.2 percent to 778 yen. The company said it was considering capital ties with industry leader Nissin.

The Nihon Keizai newspaper reported earlier that Nissin would hold an extraordinary board meeting on Wednesday and announce a white-knight bid later in the day.

Nissin was down 1.4 percent at 3,430 yen.

Reuters