Japan Stocks Rise, Helped By Some Strong Earnings

LOS ANGELES – Japanese stocks opened solidly higher Friday, boosted by some improved tech earnings and overnight gains on Wall Street, with the Nikkei Stock Average up 1.4% in early moves -- extending Thursday's 0.7% rise -- while the broader Topix climbed 1.3%. A 43% rise in fiscal-first-half profit for Toshiba Corp. juiced its shares by 3.1%, while a swing to profit for NEC Corp. sent its stock up 3.2%. Mitsubishi Electric Corp. also gained in the wake of its results, its shares up 2.2% after the company hiked its full-year forecast, citing good demand in China. Earnings reports also helped Kyocera Corp. (up 4.3%) and Nikon Corp. (up 3.2%), though Fujitsu Ltd. and Casio Computer Co. disappointed, cutting their share prices by 4.3% and 6.1%, respectively. Airline operator ANA Holdings Inc. also saw a 0.4% post-results loss. Beyond earnings news, Nissan Motor Co. traded 2.5% higher after saying its Leaf model was on track to break the U.S. record for electric-car sales in a single year, while Isuzu Motors Ltd. rose 1.7% as the Nikkei reported its profit for the April-September period would fall less than forecast. And stock in Sony Corp. was 0.8% lower ahead of the conglomerate's financial report, due out after the close of trade.

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