Nikkei edges up in choppy trade, Wall Street weakness limits gains



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* Futures buying seen at level around 22,000 – analyst

* Mitsui Fudosan soars after raising forecast

By Ayai Tomisawa

The Nikkei share average .N225 edged up 0.1 percent to22,268.45 in midmorning trade after opening lower. The benchmarkindex fell to as low as 22,046.29, but traders said that futuresbuying supported the market.

“Investors are buying on the dip today, while futures buyingseemed to have kicked in when the index neared the 22,000level,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist atMitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

Analysts also said that a modestly softer yen also supportedsentiment.

Overall, however, they said investors remained cautious asthe U.S. Federal Reserve looked set to deliver another rate hikein December, while fresh signs of a slowdown in the Chineseeconomy kept equities under pressure on Monday.

Domestic demand sensitive stocks outperformed, with food,drug and land transport firms rising. Ajinomoto2802.T gained0.8 percent, NH Foods2282.T advanced 2.4 percent, TakedaPharmaceutical 4502.T added 1.1 percent and East Japan Railway9020.T jumped 1.0 percent.

Tech shares underperformed after the Philadelphia SESemiconductor Index .SOX fell 1.9 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC dropped 1.7 percent. Advantest Corp6857.T dived 5.8percent and TDK Corp6762.T shed 3.6 percent.

Elsewhere, Mitsui Fudosan8801.T rallied 3.6 percent afterthe realtor raised its net profit forecast to 163 billion yenfrom 153 billion yen for the year ending March 2019 thanks tostrong condo sales.

The broader Topix .TOPX was up 0.1 percent to 1,674.08.Advancing issues slightly outnumbered declining ones 1,032 to1,000. (Editing by Shri Navaratnam) (([email protected]; 81-3-6441-1875; ReutersMessaging: [email protected]))




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