1st LD Writethru: Tokyo shares rebound on bargain hunting

TOKYO, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo shares rallied Thursday as market players sought bargains following Nikkei's largest single-day fall within the year the previous day.

Shares opened higher and remained in positive territory throughout the day on bargain-hunting of market player after the benchmark Nikkei index lost 1.97 percent on Wednesday, its lowest close for three weeks.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended up 320.99 points, or 1.45 percent, from Wednesday at 22,498.03.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 20.83 points, or 1.18 percent, higher at 1,786.25.

Among all shares listed on the First Section, advancing issues outnumbered decliners 1,716 to 269, with 60 ending the day unchanged.

Gainers were led by construction, metal product and electric appliance issues.

Among the decliners, Sharp, which returned to the main section on Thursday after being demoted last year due to financial weakness, opened higher in the morning but ended down 80 yen, or 2.1 percent, at 3,805 yen as investors locked in gains.

On the main section, 1,528.33 million shares changed hands, falling from Wednesday's volume of 1,791.74 million shares.

The day's turnover was around 2,807.3 billion yen (24.98 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem