Japan Stocks Zigzag In Early Trade; Fujifilm Up On Ebola News

LOS ANGELES – Japanese stocks turned south in the early minutes of Wednesday trade only to rebound to the flat line, as the yen zigzagged off the latest tankan business-sentiment survey. Ahead of the open, Nikkei Average futures had pointed to a gain of between 0.3% and 0.4%, but a stronger-than-expected bounce in large manufacturers' sentiment sent the yen higher, with the dollar easing to �109.62 from �109.72. The forex moves sent the stock benchmark from a flat open to trade 0.4% lower about a half hour into the session, only to shed those loses within a 10-minute period as the yen gave back some of its gains. The broader Topix was down 0.2%, however. Currency-sensitive techs and auto makers were among the decliners, with TDK Corp. down 1.5%, Toshiba Corp. down 0.8%, Renesas Electronics Corp. falling 2.9%, Nissan Motor Co. losing 1.4%, and Honda Motor Co. off 1.5%. Stock in Nikon Corp. lost 0.8% as the Nikkei business daily tipped a first-fiscal-half drop in operating profit of roughly 77%, which would still be better than a previously forecast 82% decline. Among the gainers, meanwhile, Fujifilm Holdings Corp. added 1.2% after news the U.S. had confirmed its first case of the Ebola virus -- the conglomerate has a flu treatment called Avigan which has been used experimentally to fight Ebola. Also, shares of Lawson Inc. improved by 2% after confirmation it plans to buy unlisted supermarket operator Seijo Ishii Co. from an investment fund.

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