Nikkei average flat

Japan's Nikkei average was nearly flat on Tuesday after slipping earlier as a weaker yen offset losses in the utility sector which was dragged down by Tokyo Electric Power Co. The benchmark index was lower most of the day due to a pullback in other risk assets on volatile commodity prices and as investors factored in the expected end of the Federal Reserve's stimulus programme in June.
The utility and gas sector underperformed the market and fell 3.9 percent, the biggest loser on the board. It was dragged down by Tokyo Electric, which tumbled 9.5 percent to 380 yen on worries about its debt being waived, which would make it more difficult for the firm get loans in the long-term. Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Tuesday that Tepco and financial institutions should hold talks on whether to waive Tepco's debt before informing the government of their plans.
"(Our) basic stance is to gain co-operation from all stakeholders and to minimise the burden on the public ... we would like Tokyo Electric and financial institutions to hold private discussions," Noda said. Trade was confined to a tight range, and since the Nikkei rose above the top of its daily Ichimoku cloud at 9559.62 that level is seen as immediate support, analyst said. But they also predicted that there would likely be more selling if 9,500 is decisively breached.
The Nikkei was up 0.1 percent at 9,567.02, while the broader Topix index was 0.1 percent lower at 828.85. The Nikkei has tumbled almost 8 percent since the March 11 earthquake, while Asian stocks outside Japan have gained 5 percent. Investors said the stock market is likely to move without clear direction for a while as the first post-quake earnings season ended with many firms not providing forecasts for the next year.
Chubu Electric fell 5.5 percent to 1,339 yen and Kansai Electric lost 3.7 percent to 1,452 yen. But real estate stocks gained after J.P. Morgan hiked Mitsui Fudosan's rating to "overweight" from "neutral" citing a likely recovery in apartment sales and expectations for earnings recovery to begin in the second half of the current financial year. Mitsui Fudosan gained 2.0 percent to 1,393 yen.
Sumitomo Corp, a Japanese trading house, climbed 1.8 percent to 1,087 yen after Goldman Sachs raised its rating to "buy" from "neutral", citing strong growth in projects such as infrastructure development in Indonesia. Meanwhile, stocks that will be deleted from the MSCI Japan index on May 31 fell. Trading volume was moderate with 1.9 billion shares changing hands on the main board, slightly below last week's daily average of 2.1 billion shares. Decliners outpaced advancing shares by 910 to 613.