TOKYO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Japanese shares ended higher
on Friday, underpinned by robust corporate earnings and outlook
of domestic firms, with index heavyweight Tokyo Electron leading
the gains after raising its annual profit forecast.
The Nikkei share average rose 0.31% to close at
27,670.98, after rising as much as 0.8% earlier in the session.
For the week, the index rose 0.59%.
The broader Topix also gave up some of its gains to
end 0.1% higher at 1,986.96 and rose 0.85% for the week.
"Robust outlook of domestic firms is a strong tailwind for
the market. Investors were relieved to confirm corporate
performance," said Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the
investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities.
"Still, the market has not set the direction yet. Its move
is based on earnings of individual companies," Arisawa said,
adding that market gains were limited as investors awaited
January U.S. consumer price inflation data due next week.
Chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron jumped
4.35% after raising its full-year operating profit forecast and
was the biggest boost for the Nikkei. Its peer Advantest rose 1.5%.
Kobe Steel surged 14.97% to become the top
performer on the Nikkei after saying the steel maker would pay a
record-high full-year dividend.
The steel makers index jumped 3.4% to become the
top performing sector among the 33 industry sub-indexes on the
Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Dai Nippon Printing , in which activist investor
Elliott Management has a stake, surged 13.81% after the printing
firm announced its largest share buyback to date.
The real estate sector fell 1.54%, dragged down
by Mitsubishi Estate and Mitsui Fudosan , which
lost 3.77% and 1.2%, respectively.
Refiners were the worst performer among the
industry sub-indexes, dropping 2.26%, with Idemitsu Kosan losing 2.35%.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and
Rashmi Aich)
