By Michael Kitchen
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese shares reversed course to trade higher Wednesday morning, with strength in the energy sector and some tech names helping offset weakness in some other major exporters. Just minutes before the midday trading break, the Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NI225 10,345, +51.91, +0.50%) and Topix each rose 0.2% to 10,310.2 and 904.38, respectively. Continued strength in crude prices helped boost the energy sector, with Inpex Corp. (JP:1605 482,000, -8,500, -1.73%) (IPXHY 58.10, -1.65, -2.76%) up 1.4%, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. (JP:1662 3,075, -30.00, -0.97%) (JPTXF 0.00, 0.00, 0.00%) higher by 1.6%, and Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. (JP:5002 744.00, -17.00, -2.23%) up 0.9%. Tech firms were mixed, with Renesas Electronics Corp. (JP:6723 825.00, +7.00, +0.86%) (RNECY 4.81, +0.05, +1.05%) up 0.9%, and Hitachi Ltd. (JP:6501 415.00, +4.00, +0.97%) (HIT 50.72, +0.84, +1.68%) gaining 1.9% after reports it may soon sign a lucrative contract for a U.K. high-speed rail project. But others fell, with Sony Corp. (JP:6758 2,957, -3.00, -0.10%) (SNE 35.84, +0.23, +0.65%) down 0.5% and Elpida Memory Inc. (JP:6665 978.00, +36.00, +3.82%) (ELPDF 10.82, -0.58, -5.09%) losing 0.6%, as the yen continued to gain in value. |
