Japan Stocks Clutch Small Gains Ahead Of Fed; Ryohim Up On Reported India Move

Japanese stocks traded mildly positive Wednesday morning, though off their opening highs, with a sense of caution growing ahead of this week's policy decisions from the U.S. and Japanese central banks. The 225-component Nikkei Stock Average was 0.1% higher about 20 minutes into the trading day, while the broader Topix was up 0.2%, and the dollar was quoted at �123.43, down from �123.81 late in the previous Tokyo stock session. The tech and industrial exporters were mixed after May trade data released just ahead of the open showed Japanese export growth at its slowest since last year, with imports falling for a fifth straight month. Shares of Toshiba Corp. retreated by 0.9%, Nikon Corp. lost 2%, and Fuji Electric Co. gave up 1.4%, while Sharp Corp. rose 0.6%, Olympus Corp. added 1%, and Renesas Electronics Corp. improved by 2.2%. Among the notable outperformers, Ryohim Keikaku Co. -- owner of the Muji clothing and houseware brand -- climbed 5.1% after a Nikkei report said the company planned an India joint venture with that country's Reliance Brands. Shares of Japan Tobacco Inc. improved by 3.4%, extending gains during the previous day, after Deutsche Bank raised its price target on the shares. Telecoms were broadly higher, as NTT DoCoMo Inc. rose 0.9% and KDDI Corp. added 0.3%, but Softbank Corp. lost 0.3%, getting no help from a separate Nikkei news report quoting unnamed sources as saying Softbank was deepening its drive into robotics by forming a robot joint venture with Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group. Among the auto shares, Toyota Motor Corp. lost 0.1% after expanding its recall by about 1.4 million cars, again due to faulty Takata Corp. air bags. Stock in Takata was down 0.1%. Also on the move, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. lost 1.3% as Moody's downgraded the shipper's debt rating.