Nikkei gains on robust US earnings

TOKYO, April 21 (Xinhua): Tokyo stock extended gains Thursday, with the key Nikkei stock index rising 0.58 per cent supported by robust earnings by US bellwether firms like Apple and other prominent manufacturers. Investor sentiment was lifted from the off following Apple Inc reporting record earnings for its second quarter, with revenue totaling 24.67 billion US dollars and profits rocketing 95 per cent on booming iPhone sales. Brokers said that Apple's better-than-expected performance gave a solid boost to the tech-sector here, particularly following robust reports from Intel and IBM and punctuated by Apple saying that it has not encountered supply-chain issues related to the March 11 disaster in Japan. Coupled with chip firm Qualcomm's earnings also coming in above expectations, analysts said investors' risk appetite will like return here and although the market is jittery ahead of Japan Inc's earnings season, the consensus is that the world's biggest economy is back on a stable recovery track and is in turn boosting the global recovery. "US companies, especially tech stocks, are doing well, and that's helping to instill confidence," said one local investment manager. "Investors are looking to take a little bit more risk." "The US economic recovery, while still soft, is steadily recovering," added Junichi Misawa, head of equity investment at Tokyo-based STB Asset Management Co. "That affects the global economy. Also, rising commodity prices reflect strong demand," he said. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 55.85 points from Wednesday to 9,662.67, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 2.48 points, or 0. 30 per cent, to 839.65. Tech-shares rose on Apple's earnings and Sony climbed 2 per cent to 2,508 yen and Elpida Memory Inc rose 3.6 per cent to 1,179 yen. TDK Corp leapt 4.1 per cent to 4,050 yen and Sumco Corp added 2.5 per cent to 1,603 yen. Renesas, meanwhile, increased 2.5 per cent to finish at 708 yen. However while domestic tech issues outperformed the broader market today, brokers said that gains were capped by the upcoming long Easter holiday weekend overseas, with investors wary about taking up solid positions. But commodity and trading firms found favour in rising oil and metals prices and Mitsubishi Corp, Japan's biggest commodities trader, gained 1.7 per cent to 2,215 yen and gas and oil developer Inpex Corp jumped 3.5 per cent to close at 622,000 yen. Analysts said that the long-term the future of Japanese shares still remain an attractive proposition for institutional and foreign investors, but again highlighted the concern in the market about Japan's own earnings season, with the recent volume of thin trade reflecting investors' wariness. "There are many investors who want to hold Japanese stocks in the long-term. They still believe in recovering fundamentals which were pushing up the market before the earthquake," said Fujio Ando, senior managing director at Chibagin Asset Management. "But recent thin volume indicates their hesitance to take large positions before earnings are released," he said. Trading volume Thursday dipped to 1.68 billion shares billion shares on the Tokyo Exchange's First Section, down from Wednesday's ovum of 1.76 billion shares, with rising issues outnumbering falling ones by 788 to 644.