Wednesday July 23, 01:20 PM
Nikkei rises 1 pct as property firms jump |
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By Taiga Uranaka
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average climbed 1 percent, rising for a second day on Wednesday with property firms Mitsubishi Estate Co Ltd and Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd jumping after JPMorgan began coverage of them with an "overweight" rating.
Japan's second-largest bank Mizuho Financial Group and its rivals extended gains on relief that major U.S. bank results were now over, with most not as dire as investors had feared.
"We are out of a dark tunnel now," said Harushige Kobayashi, head of research at Maruwa Securities.
But investors were not quite ready to jump back to the market, with many waiting to see how Japanese earnings results for the April-June quarter that start later next week pan out.
"The market is like a lizard bathing in the sun. It's getting warm and its eyes have started moving but it has not warmed up enough to start running around," said Kobayashi.
The benchmark Nikkei ended up 127.97 points at 13,312.93 after rising as high as 13,388.63 at one stage.
The broader Topix climbed 1.2 percent to 1,303.35.
Mizuho rose 4.3 percent to 583,000 yen and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the nation's biggest bank, climbed 2.4 percent to 1,010 yen.
Banks, among the stocks hit hardest by troubles in the U.S. financial system, have led recent gains, with Mizuho up 24 percent from a low hit on July 2.
Mitsubishi UFJ has risen 10 percent and No. 3 Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has climbed 15 percent during the same period while the Nikkei has been almost flat.
PROPERTY POWERFUL
The real estate subindex surged 5.6 percent to become the top performing subindex after being hit by worries stemming from the failure of midsize developer Zephyr Co.
Mitsui Fudosan, Japan's biggest developer, rose 3.9 percent to 2,425 yen on bullish comments from JPMorgan.
"The stock now trades at a substantial discount, primarily due to excessive concerns regarding real estate prices," JPMorgan analyst Hirokazu Anai wrote in a note to clients.
He said Mitsui Fudosan and Mitsubishi Estate were likely to show stable earnings growth even amid an economic slowdown.
Mitsubishi Estate climbed 6.9 percent to 2,565 yen. Sumitomo Realty & Development Co Ltd soared 7.3 percent to 2,280 yen.
Oil and gas field developer Inpex Holdings Inc shed 4.2 percent to 1.11 million yen, becoming one of the largest drags on the Nikkei after oil fell to its lowest level since early June on Tuesday.
Trade picked up, with 2 billion shares changing hands compared to last week's daily average of 1.85 billion.
Advancers outnumbered decliners by more than 3 to 1.
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