Nikkei up 0.5 pc as Canon, tech shares rebound

Tokyo, July 19: Japan's Nikkei average gained 0.49 per cent on Thursday with recent decliners such as Canon Inc. recovering ground after U.S. stocks fell less than some had expected on Wednesday.

Shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. (TEPCO) dropped nearly 6 per cent after a paper reported on Thursday the Japanese government may order an earthquake-hit nuclear plant run by TEPCO to stay shut for more than a year while a safety study is under way.

The stock is also under pressure as Nomura Securities cut its rating on TEPCO to ''reduce'' from ''neutral''.

''Investors are somewhat relieved Intel's results didn't hugely bring down the New York market overnight, and are picking up high-tech shares again,'' said Hiroaki Kuramochi, managing director at Bear Stearns.

On Wednesday the benchmark Nikkei average fell 1.1 per cent as technology shares lost ground after disappointing results from chip giant Intel Corp. that raised concerns over high-tech demand.

''But investors are buying on expectations for the upcoming earnings season rather than because they had turned overly bullish,'' Kuramochi said, adding the Nikkei is likely to hover around the 18,100 level throughout the day.

The Nikkei average was up 88.47 points at 18,104.05 as of 0042 GMT.

The broader TOPIX index added 0.53 per cent to 1,767.91.

Shares of high-tech issues rebounded, with Canon up 1.1 per cent at 7,090 yen, while Olympus Corp. climbed 1.4 per cent to 4,920 yen.

Shares of TEPCO lost 5.6 per cent to 3,400 yen Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. jumped 5.2 per cent to 2,130 yen on robust preliminary first-half earnings.

Reuters>