Thomson Financial News

Japan Hot Stocks-Capcom, chip-related, shippers, Toyota

12.10.08, 12:07 AM EST

TOKYO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The benchmark Nikkei average gained 3.2 percent and the broader TOPIX rose 2.1 percent as of 0445 GMT on Wednesday.

**CAPCOM DROPS AFTER EA OF U.S. CUTS OUTLOOK**

Japanese videogame maker Capcom Co Ltd dropped 4.8 percent to 2,070 yen after U.S. videogame publisher Electronic Arts Inc (nasdaq: ERTS - news - people ) warned its financial 2009 profit and revenue will fall short of already-low forecasts due to disappointing holiday sales of its videogames in North America and Europe.

Last month, major electronics retailer Circuit City Stores Inc (nyse: CC - news - people ) filed for bankruptcy, while Best Buy Co Inc (nyse: BBY - news - people ) , the No.1 U.S. electronics chain, slashed its profit forecast.

0444 GMT

**CHIP-RELATED SHARES GAIN AFTER JUMP IN CHIP INDEX**

Shares of semiconductor equipment makers such as Tokyo Electron Ltd gained after the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index rose nearly 5 percent the previous day.

Shares of Tokyo Electron surged 10.2 percent to 2,695 yen, while Advantest Corp (nyse: ATE - news - people ), the world's biggest maker of semiconductor testers, jumped 9.3 percent to 1,272 yen.

0427 GMT

**SHIPPERS JUMP ON BALTIC INDEX REBOUND**

Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, operator of the world's biggest fleet of bulkers for shipping iron ore, jumped 9 percent to 543 yen, while Nippon Yusen KK, Japan's biggest shipping company in terms of sales, gained 6.1 percent to 526 yen.

The Baltic Dry Index, the global freight index of prices for shipping commodities, inched up 1.2 percent on Tuesday, its first gains since mid-November, amid rising steel prices and firm iron ore prices.

0200 GMT

**TOYOTA WEAK; GOLDMAN SLASHES PROFIT FORECAST**

Toyota Motor Corp (nyse: TM - news - people ) lagged other auto stocks with a 0.4 percent rise to 2,760 yen after Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS - news - people ) lowered its operating profit forecast for the year to March 2009 to 208 billion yen from 624 billion yen, expecting further production cuts.

The new forecast would be a fraction of the 2.27 trillion yen Toyota made in operating profit last year. The transport sector subindex was up 1.3 percent.

0155 GMT

**PROPERTY DEVELOPERS SOAR ON GOVT EMERGENCY PACKAGE REPORT**

Tokyu Land Corp soared 16.1 percent to 318 yen and other mid-sized property developers and REITs also rallied after the Nikkei business daily said the Japanese government has decided to extend credit lines of up to 2 billion yen ($21.71 million) to cash-strapped small and midsized developers to help them avoid bankruptcy.

The programme will be part of emergency steps the government plans to announce as early as Monday, said the report. The government is also considering a low interest rate loan programme for REITs (real estate investment trusts), the report said.

Property developer Goldcrest Co jumped 8 percent to 2,105 yen and Atrium Co leapt 13.2 percent to 232 yen. Among REITs, Pacific Holdings Inc gained 13.7 percent to 233 yen.

0117 GMT

**ELPIDA RISES, LIKELY TO REDEEM CONVERTIBLE BOND**

Shares of Elpida Memory rose 12.2 percent to 443 yen ahead of a deadline on Thursday that will likely trigger the redemption of a 50 billion yen ($542.7 million) convertible bond that could have led to a big increase in the number of its outstanding shares.

Elpida, a maker of memory chips, issued the bond to Nomura Holdings in November to fund investment. The announcement of the bond, which could boost outstanding shares by three-quarters, led to a sharp sell-off of Elpida's shares.

Elpida's stock is set to close below the conversion price of 509 yen for a 19th straight day. Under the agreement with Nomura, Elpida has to redeem the bond in full if its stock closes below that level for 20 straight trading days.

0050 GMT

**NIPPON ELECTRIC GLASS SLIDES AFTER FORECAST CUT**

Shares of Nippon Electric Glass were down 3.9 percent at 474 yen after saying its operating profit would likely fall 55-65 percent in the October-December quarter compared with a year earlier, hit by slumping demand for glass used in liquid crystal displays.

The forecast marks a sharp downward revision to its previous estimate for a fall in quarterly profit of 5 to 15 percent.

0014 GMT

**SONY CORP> DOWN AFTER RESTRUCTURING ANNOUNCEMENT**

Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) was down 0.5 percent at 1,887 yen after saying on Tuesday it will cut 16,000 jobs, curb investment and pull out of some businesses to save $1.1 billion a year as the financial crisis ravages demand for its electronics products.

0006 GMT

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(Reporting by Elaine Lies)

((elaine.lies@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 6441 1807; Reuters Messaging:elaine.lies.reuters.com@reuters.net))

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