Japan Stocks Rise, Helped By Some Strong Earnings

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.