Roundup: Nikkei gains 0.39 pct on Wall Street's lead, solid domestic earnings

The Nikkei stock index gained 0.39 percent following a strong overnight lead from Wall Street and as investor sentiment was lifted by some solid corporate earnings reports here, but gains were kept in check by a comparatively strong yen.

The Nikkei 225 added 68.17 points to close the week at 17,674. 39, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares ended up 0.11 percent, or 1.49 points, at 1,415.07.

Brokers here said that following the Fed's latest policy meeting, there was a renewed sense of confidence in the health of the world's largest economy, as evidenced by the employment data and, despite the Fed not saying that when it plans to rise interest rates, stocks in New York performed well overnight, giving their counterparts here a lift.

But economic data released here did little to further encourage investors to chase issues higher, with consumer prices slowing to a year-on-year rise of 0.5 percent in December, less than median economists' estimates and dipping away from the central bank's 2 percent target.

Additional statistics also released Friday showed that while the situation in the labor market was improving, with unemployment dropping to a 17-year low at 3.4 percent and job availability at a 22-year high, industrial production came in below median economists' expectations.

Industrial production in December rose 1 percent on-month, but while reversing a downturn in November, fell short of market expectations for a 1.3 percent increase. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a monthly report Friday that, " Industrial production shows signs of increase at a moderate pace."

Some analysts said that today's data prompted some investors to secure gains ahead of the weekend, rather than to chase the market higher.

Hiroichi Nishi, assistant general manager of equity research at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. said, "The unexpected weakness of some data led investors to lock in gains."

Others said a comparatively firm yen versus the U.S. dollar was enough to stop some investors pulling the trigger, coupled with unease about the oil glut, geopolitical concerns in the eurozone, and the need to digest Japan Inc's recent earnings reports.

The U.S. dollar was changing hands at 117.98 yen in Tokyo today, down from 118.34 yen logged in New York but higher than the 117.70 yen level it was fetching earlier Thursday in Tokyo.

Toshiba was a notable advancer on the last trading day of the week, climbing 2.3 percent to 474 yen, following the firm saying it will license or sell its loss-making North American TV business to other companies.

"We will quit operating TV businesses ourselves overseas," Executive Vice President Keizo Maeda told a news conference earlier today.

Toshiba Corp. said that for the nine months from April through December its operating profit rose almost 10 percent year-on-year to 164.8 billion yen.

Embattled Skymark Airlines, meanwhile, Japan's third-largest carrier facing delisting from the exchange in March having filed for bankruptcy protection, plummeted 33.75 percent to 157 yen, despite the firm conceding that although a bungled deal with Airbus had battered it financially, Integral Corp., an equity firm, will provide the company with finances to help it restructure, pending the Tokyo District Court's approval.

NEC tumbled 7.47 percent to 334 yen, although the firm announced a return to profit after it jettisoned its loss-making smartphone business and Nikkei heavyweight SoftBank dropped 3.37 percent to 6,963 yen, after e-commerce giant Alibaba, in which it holds a one-third stake, announced sales growth figures that came in below par.

Semiconductor tester maker Advantest was a notable winner Friday, leaping 9.3 percent to 1,512 yen, following announcing it had raised its full-year forecast for operating income by 17 percent to 14 billion yen.

Internet-based media and services firm Cyberagent, surged 15.5 percent to close at 5,220 yen, after reporting it had, in the three months through December, more than tripled its net profit.

Trading volume on Friday rose to 2.67 billion shares on the Tokyo Exchange's First Section, up from Thursday's volume of 2.41 billion shares, with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones by 1,177 to 561. Endi