(Adds stocks, details)
By Aiko Hayashi
TOKYO, March 4 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.7
percent on Tuesday, rebounding from a six-week low in see-saw
trade as investors snapped up exporters such as Honda Motor Co
<7267.T> on a halt in the yen's rise and Pioneer Corp <6773.T>
jumped on news of restructuring.
But worries over the course of corporate earnings helped put
a lid on gains, with Sekisui House Ltd <1928.T> tumbling nearly 5
percent after Japan's top home builder forecast a further fall in
profit this year on sluggish demand and rising costs.
Falls in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group <8316.T> and other
banks showed that investors were still worried over the risk of
further fallout from the global credit crisis.
"The recent market woes started from the U.S. subprime loan
problems and the fact is that there's no easy way out in sight,"
said Tsuyoshi Segawa, an equity strategist at Shinko Securities.
The benchmark Nikkei average <> ended the morning
session up 94.48 points at 13,086.66 after falling as much as 0.8
percent to a six-week low of 12,883.07. The broader TOPIX index
<> also rebounded to close the morning up 0.3 percent at
1,275.45.
Investors picked up shares of battered exporters after the
dollar cut some losses against the yen to trade around 103.47 yen
<JPY=>. Rising risk aversion following a drop in global stocks
had pushed the dollar to a three-year low of 102.6 yen on Monday.
Shares of Honda rose 2.3 percent to 3,140 yen, recovering
from a six-week low in the previous session. Electronics parts
maker Kyocera Corp <6971.T> added 1.2 percent to 8,580 yen and
industrial robot maker Fanuc Ltd <6954.T> climbed 2.5 percent to
9,290 yen.
Investors are cautious about a stronger yen as that weighs on
exporters' profits when their overseas sales are translated back
into the Japanese currency.
Fujio Ando, a senior managing director at Chibagin Asset
Management, said the combination of U.S. recession fears and the
stronger yen trend are haunting investors, leading them to ignore
sectors such as electric power, gas and food, which are generally
favoured when the yen strengthens.
"Still, there's no way companies will book a huge fall in
profits even if the yen goes below 100 yen against the dollar,"
he said.
Pioneer surged 12.9 percent to 1,178 yen after an industry
source said the company is finalising plans to stop all
production of plasma display panels. []
Among financial issues, Sumitomo Mitsui was down 2.3 percent
at 722,000 yen and Mizuho Financial Group <8411.T> fell 0.9
percent to 420,000 yen.
Sekisui House slid 4.7 percent to 982 yen after forecasting
that its net profit would fall 7 percent to 56 billion yen as the
industry struggles to recover from stricter regulations that have
hit housing starts and faces soaring costs for materials.
[]
Trade was moderate on the Tokyo exchange's first section,
with 958 million shares changing hands, almost in line with last
week's morning average. Declining stocks slightly outnumbered
advancers by 812 to 771.
(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi)
