TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed up 0.25 percent Tuesday as buyers moved to lock in interim dividends before Japanese companies close their books for the half-year to the end of September.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished up 22.25 points at 9,091.54 while the Topix index of all first-section issues gained 0.53 percent or 3.98 points to 757.66.
The market got support from "short-covering to lock in the fiscal first half payout", said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
Some major stocks gained ground. Toyota Motor rose 1.11 percent to 3,185 yen and Panasonic went up 1.32 percent to 535 yen.
Shares in Sharp rose 0.48 percent to 207 yen after a Kyodo News report that the troubled electronics firm has decided to cut some 11,000 jobs worldwide and sell $2.7 billion worth assets and factories.
Japan Airlines (JAL) plunged 8.73 percent to 3,395 yen less than a week after relisting, amid concern over a festering territorial spat between Tokyo and Beijing.
Other China-related shares also took a beating on pessimism over Sino-Japanese relations and the possible fallout on firms heavily exposed to the region.
"As so many Japanese companies are deeply invested in China, the fallout on sentiment vis-a-vis Japan shares is real," said Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at kabu.com Securities.
Factory automation firm Fanuc tumbled 3.34 percent to 13,000 yen and Nippon Steel was down 1.85 percent to 159 yen.
Shares in embattled chipmaker Renesas Electronics dived 13.69 percent to 290 yen on profit taking after soaring 31.25 percent Monday on weekend reports of a possible rescue by a consortium including Toyota and Panasonic. (AFP)
