TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed 0.21 percent higher on Thursday as a weaker yen lifted exporters while Panasonic shares dived nearly 20 percent after its warning of a huge annual loss.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 18.58 points to 8,946.87, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares rose 0.13 percent, or 0.99 points, to 743.32.
"With earnings reporting season having now hit its peak, it's safe to say that results have overall been pretty weak," Tachibana Securities market analyst Kenichi Hirano told Dow Jones Newswires.
"The real hope for the market is that more aggressive and continuous central bank easing will keep the yen reasonably cheap. In this respect, the Bank of Japan has lagged its overseas counterparts, so it still has room (for) manoeuvre.
"If dollar-yen and euro-yen can be kept firmly above 80 and 105 -- where many exporters' fiscal-year currency repatriation targets lie -- that would be a major support heading into the fiscal second half," he said.
The dollar climbed back above the 80 yen mark, fetching 80.02 yen in late afternoon Tokyo trade, up from 79.78 yen in New York late Wednesday. The euro also rose to 103.75 yen from 103.39 yen.
The Japanese central bank took easing steps in September and October while issuing a joint statement with the government vowing their commitment to stem deflation.
In Tokyo trading, shares in Panasonic ended at 414 yen, down 19.45 percent or the daily limit loss of 100 yen.
The plunge came after it warned it would lose $9.6 billion in the fiscal year to March, the latest sign of trouble for the nation's hard-hit electronics giants.
Sony closed down 4.08 percent at 915 yen before it announced its second-quarter net loss shrank by nearly half on-year thanks to cost reductions.
Sharp fell 1.74 percent to 169 yen. As widely expected, the embattled electronics maker said after the market close that it will book a record $5.6 billion annual net loss.
Mazda soared 10.52 percent to 105 yen after the automaker said Wednesday it returned to profitability in the fiscal first half.
On a more positive note, mobile carrier Softbank, which has announced the $20 billion takeover of US-based Sprint Nextel, was up 3.60 percent to 2,618 yen after posting solid second-quarter results. (AFP)
