TOKYO: The Nikkei average gained 1.1 per cent on Wednesday, helped by gains in exporters such as Tokyo Electron as the yen softened, while investo rs took some comfort from machinery orders data that some said was not as bad as they had feared. Investors were buying recently sold-off shares and selling those that had been rising on expectations of global stimulus efforts, rather than reacting to specific news, said Yoshinori Nagano, a chief strategist at Daiwa Asset Management. "The machinery data also provided some relief as it was in line with forecasts, though it wouldn't have been a surprise even if it posted a two-digit fall considering economic activity almost stalled in September-November after Lehman's failure." Sony Corp slipped 1.5 percent after the company said it would cut 16,000 jobs, curb investment and pull out of some businesses to save $1.1 billion a year as the financial crisis ravages demand for its electronics products. The job cuts were the biggest announced by an Asian firm so far in the global financial crisis. The benchmark Nikkei added 95.68 points to 8,491.55, after opening slightly lower. The broader Topix rose 0.6 percent to 822.50. Japan's core machinery orders fell a bigger than expected 4.4 percent in October, underlining weakness in corporate capital spending as the economy slides deeper into recession. The dollar was trading around 92.50 yen in Tokyo after touching 91.94 yen in New York, giving a little relief to Japanese exporters repatriating profits made overseas. Shares of Tokyo Electron shot up 6.8 percent to 2,610 yen and Kyocera Corp added 3 percent to 6,490 yen, while Honda Motor Co climbed 4.3 percent to 1,925 yen. Takahiko Murai, general manager of equities at Nozomi Securities, said he expected to see other companies follow suit after Sony's restructuring plans. "The news reaffirmed investors' dire outlook on corporate earnings, underscoring Japan's biggest problem, which is that the country depends on overseas demand for growth," he said. Sony shares slid 1.5 percent to 1,868 yen. Mid-sized property developers and REITs rallied after the Nikkei business daily said the Japanese government would extend credit lines of up to 2 billion yen ($21.7 million) to cash-strapped small and midsized developers to help them avoid bankruptcy. Property developer Tokyu Land Corp soared 17.5 percent to 322 yen, while among REITs, Pacific Holdings Inc surged 15.2 percent to 3,780 yen. Big Japanese property firms also gained, with Mitsubishi Estate jumping 6.8 percent to 1,406 yen. Shares of Elpida Memory advanced 5.6 percent to 417 yen ahead of a deadline on Thursday that will likely trigger the redemption of a 50 billion yen ($542.7 million) convertible bond that could have led to a huge rise in the number of its outstanding shares. Drugmakers fell after rising recently on the view that they are relatively resilient in the face of the global economic downturn. Astellas Pharma slid 4 percent to 3,600 yen and Takeda Pharmaceutical shed 1.3 percent to 4,470 yen. Trade was active on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with 880 million shares changing hands, compared with last week's morning average of 791 million. Advancers and decliners were exactly matched at 780 apiece.

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