Nikkei gains 0.4 pct, machine makers, exporters up

Tokyo, Mar 9: The Nikkei share average gained 0.43 percent on Friday, as machinery stocks such as Fanuc Ltd. rose on upbeat machine orders data, while a weak yen lifted shares in Canon Inc. and other exporters.

Investors also bought back recently battered shares in consumer lenders such as Credit Saison Co. Ltd. after a newspaper report on a stake sale in OMC Card Inc. sparked speculation of consolidation in the industry.

Shares in Nikko Cordial Corp. jumped 3.1 percent to 1,410 yen after major Nikko shareholder Southeastern Asset Management said on Friday Citigroup's .8 billion offer to buy Nikko undervalues the Japanese brokerage.

But the market's overall advance was limited by caution about U.S. jobs data due later in the day.

"Depending on the U.S. jobs report, the yen could resume a rally against the dollar, which should trigger selling in U.S. stocks and depress the Tokyo market next Monday," said Hiroyuki Fukunaga, chief strategist at Rakuten Securities.

Investor confidence hurt by global market sell-offs has not yet fully recovered, and investors' cautious stance will likely cap the Nikkei at around 17,500 yen next week, he added.

The Nikkei closed up 73.73 points at 17,164.04, after booking its largest daily percentage gain since October in the previous session. On the week the Nikkei fell 0.31 percent rpt 0.31 percent.

The broad TOPIX index added 0.54 percent to 1,730.31.

Soichiro Monji, chief strategist at the equity management department of Daiwa SB Investments, said the market may come under pressure as worries about the U.S. economy remain.

"In the January-March quarter, U.S. capital spending is apparently losing steam. Corporate earnings growth in the first quarter is also likely to be low at about 4 percent," he said.

The stock market will stay in a corrective phase until investors become more confident about a soft landing of the U.S.economy, he added.

CONSUMER LENDERS RISE

Consumer credit firm Credit Saison Co. Ltd. surged 11.4 percent to 3,800 yen, becoming the largest contributor to the Nikkei's rise amid speculation about an industry shake-up.

The Yomiuri daily reported on Friday that supermarket Daiei Inc. plans to sell some of its stake in its credit card unit, OMC Card Inc., and that banks such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and large credit card firms are expected to bid for the stake.

OMC Card jumped 13.2 percent to 856 yen, becoming the second-biggest percentage gainer on the Tokyo exchange's first section.

"It appears that lenders who aren't affiliated with banks are unlikely to survive," said Ken Masuda, senior dealer in equities at Shinko Securities.

Among other gainers, machine tool giant Mori Seiki Co. Ltd. advanced 2 percent to 2,750 yen, while industrial robot maker Fanuc added 0.9 percent to 10,550 yen.

Both shares climbed after government data showed Japan's machinery orders, a gauge of capital spending, rose by a greater-than-expected 3.9 percent in January from December.

Shares of Canon Inc. jumped 2.1 percent to 6,290 yen after the office equipment maker said on Thursday it plans to buy back as much as 100 billion yen (0 million) worth of its own shares, a day after it said it had completed a separate buyback of a similar size.

A weak yen also lifted Canon's share price, as the company earns nearly 80 percent of its sales overseas.

Aeon Co., Japan's second-biggest retailer, jumped 4.6 percent to 2,400 yen after the Nikkei business daily said the company would buy shares in Daiei Inc. and Daiei's grocery subsidiary Maruetsu Inc.

After the close of trading, Aeon confirmed that it would spend 62.7 billion yen to buy a 15 percent stake in Daiei and 20 percent in Maruetsu.

Daiei soared 9.8 percent to 1,689 yen, while Maruetsu added 3.2 percent to 573 yen.

Trade volume surged, due in part to the settlement of futures and option contracts. A total of 3.19 billion shares changed hands on the exchange's first section, well above last year's daily average of 1.9 billion shares.

Advancers outpaced decliners 929 to 664.

(=117.17 Yen) REUTERS