(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks rose on low volume, with a gain in Nintendo Co. shares boosting miscellaneous product makers while oil explorers advanced. Airlines and car manufacturers slid.
The Topix index added 0.9 percent to 1,317.49 at the close in Tokyo, after falling less than 0.1 percent earlier. Volume on the measure was about 9.8 percent below the 30-day average. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average was 0.7 percent higher. The yen was little changed at 102.46 per dollar after falling 0.6 percent yesterday. The Bank of Japan's decision to almost double its purchase of exchange-traded funds on July 29 is helping to boost the measure after declines, said Satoshi Yuzaki, the investment research head at Takagi Securities Co. in Tokyo.
“We're seeing a positive cycle where stock prices are bouncing off lows on a belief that the BOJ buying when shares drop will keep prices from falling much,” Yuzaki said.
Futures on the S&P 500 Index were little changed after the underlying measure lost 0.1 percent on Monday. In Tokyo, about two shares rose for every one that fell on the Topix.
- The Topix Other Products Index of miscellaneous goods makers jumped 3.6 percent. Nintendo, which has an almost 40 percent weighting on the measure, jumped 7.4 percent.
- Telecommunication companies provided the biggest boost to the Topix, with SoftBank Group Corp. rising 3.4 percent. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. added 1.7 percent.
- Automakers were a drag on the Topix. Toyota Motor Corp. slipped 0.7 percent and Honda Motor Co. lost 0.3 percent.
- Obayashi Corp. slumped 4.9 percent to its lowest level since Jan. 21 The construction company's spokesman said its U.S. unit is involved in the reportedly sinking Millennium Tower in San Francisco.
The Topix gained by the most in almost a month on Monday after sliding 3.2 percent last week amid disappointment over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's stimulus package and BOJ stimulus. The index has lost 16 percent this year through Monday, the second-worst performing developed market.
“The market seems devoid of a clear direction for now,” said Ayako Sera, a Tokyo-based market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd. “Many here in Japan will be away for holiday this week and having fewer market participants will be another reason to keep the market from building any momentum.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Min Jeong Lee in Tokyo at mlee754@bloomberg.net, Hiroyuki Sekine in at hsekine@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Redmond at tredmond3@bloomberg.net, Anna Kitanaka, Chan Tien Hin
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