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Roundup: Nikkei closes up 0.26 pct. on hopes for prices, market eyes US jobs data, ECB moves

Xinhua, March 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Nikkei stock index gained 0.26 percent Thursday as investors are hopeful that after the short- term correction prices will rise, but gains were kept in check by a circumspect mood in later trade ahead of a key employment report due out from the U.S.

The Nikkei 225 index added 48.24 points to close the day at 18, 751.84, while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues gained 0.44 per cent, or 6.71 points, to finish at 1,523.72.

The market got off to a lackluster start following a weak lead from Wall Street overnight, but stocks shifted gear in later trade and investors were seen turing on dips as well as seeking to lock in recent profits made, local brokers said.

Buying ran its course towards the closing bell, by which point many investors were in a wait-and-see-mode or actively selling ahead of the U.S. jobs data, scheduled to be released Friday. Some analysts say the data will be one of the most significant for the U.S. Federal Reserve deciding when to hike its interest rates.

Some analysts said their could be another correction in the market if the date comes in below par, and skittish players were seen locking in gains just to be sure. "There could be a correction if markets are somehow disappointed by the outcome," said Toshihiko Matsuno, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities Co.

Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co. said that"Some of the selling today was to lock in gains ahead of the jobs data."

Market players were also turning their attention to the European Central Bank (ECB) and their new plans to buy bonds, with the bank scheduled to confirm the details later Thursday.

Export-related issues closed mixed, with top-automaker Toyota Motor kidding down 0.6 percent to 8,063 yen, while consumer electronics giant Sony gained 0.6 percent to 3,344 yen.

Textile firm Toray leapt 4.8 percent to 1,028 yen following Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley hiking its rating on the stock to overweight and lifting its share price target from 740 yen to 1, 300 yen.

Pharmaceutical forms attracted buying Thursday, with Eisai soaring 7.2 percent to 6,732 yen and Ono Pharmaceutical Co. jumping 7.7 percent to 14,070 yen, after its lung cancer treating drug Opdivo was granted an expanded approval by the FDA.

But endoscope maker Olympus retreated into positive territory, losing 2.9 percent to 4,175 yen, after a U.S. news station reported the firm sold two non-FDA approved endoscopes that have been implicated in the deaths of two people.

Trading volume on Thursday fell to 1.82 billion shares on the Tokyo Exchange's First Section, down from Wednesday's volume of 2. 13 billion shares, with advancing issues outpacing declining ones by 927 to 794. Endi