TOKYO: Tokyo stocks were higher by noon Thursday after overnight gains on Wall Street and on a weaker yen, dealers said, but uncertainty over the impact of the March 11 disasters remained. The Nikkei 225 rose 55.06 points, or 0.57 percent, to 9,639.43 by noon. The Topix index gained 5.92 points, or 0.71 percent, to 845.33. But dealers expected shares to lose steam as investors continue to monitor progress at TEPCO's troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, said Monex market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama. Investors were also braced for the key corporate earnings season for early indications of the impact of Japan's biggest recorded earthquake, the raging tsunami it unleashed and a subsequent nuclear crisis.
"Many companies are saying they won't give forecasts during earnings announcements as they are still assessing (quake) damage, but the market will listen closely to any qualitative comments made on outlooks," said Yukata Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities. TEPCO shares gained 1.18 percent to 341, having hit all-time closing lows this week amid concerns its faces a huge compensation bill with the situation at its stricken nuclear plant still unresolved. The government has moved to snuff out speculation the utility may be nationalised. The stock has lost around 84 percent of pre-earthquake March 10 closing value. Elpida Memory rose 5.55 percent to 1,122 on a Nikkei report that the company has developed a new chip for smartphones and other devices. Overnight, the US stock market was nudged upward by rumours of a shake-up at tech giant Cisco and rising banking stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 32.85 points (0.27 percent) to 12,426.75 at the close. The dollar was at 85.32 yen, compared with 85.44 yen in New York on Wednesday. The yen was at 122.03 to the euro from 122.45 yen.
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