Japan stocks pull higher, with Softbank, Nintendo, Fast among gainers
By Michael Kitchen
Published: May 7, 2015 8:27 p.m. ET

Japanese stocks rolled out of the open with modest gains Friday, helped by some upbeat corporate updates and a benign foreign-exchange picture, though reports predicted only conservative moves on the Tokyo bourse ahead of the U.S. April employment report due later in the global day. The Nikkei Stock Average NIK, +0.99% pulled 0.3% higher after surrendering 1.2% the previous day, while the Topix improved by 0.2%. The yen was a little weaker, with the dollar USDJPY, +0.25% at ￥119.77 after trading in the mid-￥119 range on Thursday. Stock in Nintendo Co. 7974, -0.47% NTDOF, -1.44% garnered some buzz, rising 7% after the company reported a swing to operating profit, raised its dividend and announced a deal with Universal theme parks to license its characters. This contrasted with videogame company Capcom Co. 9697, +3.12% falling 1% after its own results. Auto makers were also in focus after the release of China sales figures for April. Honda Motor Co. 7267, +0.23% HMC, -1.26% -- which boasted an almost 12% rise in Chinese sales -- saw its stock gain 1.1%, but Toyota Motor Corp. 7203, -0.58% TM, -1.23% was down 0.2% ahead of its earnings report slated for after the close. Toyota's China results were up almost 8% from a year earlier, but Nissan Motor Co. 7201, +0.04% NSANY, -1.14% saw a 19% drop in China results, and its stock was 0.4% lower. Isuzu Motors Ltd. 7202, -0.27% ISUZF, -2.88% rose 0.2% as a Nikkei report tipped the car and truck producer to report a milder-than-expected 2% drop in operating profit for the fiscal year ended in March. Shares of Softbank Corp. 9984, -2.56% SFTBF, +0.64% were the lone gainer among the big telecoms, rising 1.8% after news of its investment in electronics retailer Yamada Denki Co. 9831, +0.80% shares of which also rose 1.8%. Elsewhere in the retail space, Uniqlo clothing-store owner Fast Retailing Co. 9983, +2.80% FRCOF, -2.96% rallied 1.5% on the back of an almost 20% jump in April same-store sales. And Hello Kitty creator Sanrio Co. 8136, +0.00% added 1.1% to its share price, with another Nikkei news report predicting the company would miss expectations for fiscal-year profit but would slightly beat forecasts for revenue.