* Tepco jumps, other utilties slide after liability report
* Automakers gain on hopes for sharp post-quake rebound in
H2
* Oil shares extend losses on falling crude prices
* Nikkei might hit second bottom at 9,000 in late April
-fund manager
By Ayai Tomisawa and Antoni Slodkowski
TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - Tokyo shares nudged higher on
Wednesday, with Tokyo Electric surging on a report that
its liabilities stemming from the nuclear crisis may be capped
but other utilities slid as they may have to help foot the bill.
Gains in Honda, Nissan and other automakers after Nomura
Securities said it expected a sharp post-quake recovery in the
second-half of the business year helped offset declines in
oil-related stocks on a sharp drop in crude prices.
The Nikkei has regained around two-thirds of its sharp
losses suffered after the March 11 earthquake, but trade has
become more volatile and thinned out ahead of earnings reports
that may pose more questions than give answers as many firms are
poised not to give forecasts for the business year.
"The market is weak, and it may hit a second bottom at 9,000
or below around the beginning of the earnings season at the end
of April as the real impact from the quake becomes clearer,"
said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB
Investments.
He added that although carmakers' supply chains are damaged
and their production has fallen to around 50 percent of
capacity, the overall long-term picture is still positive,
although earnings for April-June quarter will likely be
extremely weak.
By midafternoon the Nikkei was up 0.5 percent or
45.01 points at 9,601.33. The broader Topix index was
0.4 percent higher at 841.65.
Mild moves on the Tokyo bourse were roughly in line with
other Asian markets as traders cut their exposure to risky
assets the day before on the pullback in commodities and were
reluctant to dive back into markets until a clear incentive to
take more risk surfaces.
Global fund managers cut their exposure to Japanese equities
sharply in early April, following the earthquake, tsunami and
nuclear disasters, a Bank of America-Merrill Lynch poll showed
on Tuesday. []
But a few leading funds, including Threadneedle and IVA
Funds, have increased their holdings.
BofA-Merrill's poll of 282 fund managers showed a net 18
percent now underweight, compared with a net 8 percent
overweight a month ago.
COMPENSATION CATALYST
Shares of Tokyo Electric jumped 10 percent to 495 yen after
the Yomiuri newspaper said Japan may cap the firm's liability to
as little as $24 billion for damages stemming from its crippled
nuclear plant. []
A week ago the stock hit an all-time low of 292 yen. Some 99
million shares in the company changed hands by the midday break,
more than 10 percent of the 948 million shares traded on the
Tokyo stock exchange's first section.
But Kansai Electric and other utilities slid as the
newspaper said they may be asked to shoulder some of the
compensation costs under the draft scheme.
Kansai fell 4.5 percent to 1,771 yen and Chubu Electric
Power dropped 3.4 percent to 1,854 yen.
Among automakers, Honda Motor gained 2.2 percent to
2,926 yen while Nissan rose 2 percent to 710 yen.
Renesas Electronics , a major supplier of chips to
the auto industry, surged 8.6 percent to 705 yen after it said
was working to bring forward the reopening of a major quake-hit
semiconductor plant from the previously scheduled target of
July.
Shares of oil and gas developers Inpex Corp and
Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (Japex) succumbed to
profit-taking for a second straight day as oil prices extended
their decline amid mounting concerns that rising fuel costs will
erode demand and threaten the global economic recovery.
Inpex, Japan's biggest oil and gas developer, fell 2.2
percent to 606,000 yen. Japex lost 2.9 percent to 3,895 yen.
Volume was thin on the bourse's main board, with the day's
total set to drop below last week's average daily volume of 2.6
billion shares.
Bank of Japan data showed that the central bank had bought
18.4 billion yen in exchange-traded funds on Tuesday, boosting
the mood on the market. The BOJ has regularly supported the
market on days of big falls. On Tuesday, the Nikkei dropped 1.7
percent.
(Editing by Chris Gallagher)
