TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended Tuesday morning in positive territory, supported by dip-buying of selected shares, as global investors gradually return to the market after the holiday break.
The yen's slide to 117.38 to the dollar, from 117.14 late Monday in Tokyo, also helped encourage investors to look for bargains.
Trading, however, remained quiet with markets in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong remaining closed on Tuesday, while players in the United States and in many European bourses will return later in the global day after a holiday.
Shares in Toshiba dived more than 12 percent on reports it is likely to record a huge special loss related to a US subsidiary's acquisition of a US nuclear power service company.
Toshiba shares traded 12.27 percent lower at 388.70 yen at the break, paring an earlier loss of as much as 16.3 percent.
The company is expected to report a roughly 100 billion yen ($850 million) one-time loss for the fiscal year ending March 2017, the leading business daily Nikkei reported, while public broadcaster NHK and the mass-circulation Yomiuri newspaper said the figure could go up to 500 billion yen.
The Nikkei said the loss was related to a valuation dispute over Westinghouse Electric's purchase from Chicago Bridge & Iron of a US nuclear service company.
"Assuming the article to be accurate, we would expect Toshiba's weak financial standing to be damaged further," Takeshi Tanaka, an analyst at Mizuho Securities, told Bloomberg News.
But trading remained thin with many investors still away for holidays.
"We... have a lack of market participants with overseas markets closed," Hideyuki Ishiguro, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities told Bloomberg News.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which started the day on a weak tone, rose 0.28 percent or 55.23 points to 19,451.87 by the break. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues added 0.24 percent or 3.67 points, to 1,541.81.
Nintendo fell 1.22 percent to 24,255, while Sony edged up 0.03 percent to 3,334. Panasonic declined 0.29 percent to 1,219.5.
Toyota added 0.16 percent to 7,002. Nissan rose 0.29 percent to 1,198.
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