Japanese stocks rebounded, reducing the Nikkei 225 Stock Average’s biggest weekly drop in almost three months as a weaker yen raised speculation company earnings will improve. Honda Motor Co., which gets more than half its profit from North America, jumped 3.9 percent. Copper smelter Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. leapt 3.8 percent after the metal’s price rose for the first time in three days. Sumco Corp., the world’s second-largest maker of silicon wafers, surged 7.3 percent after Intel Corp. said it expects its customers to rebuild depleted inventories. Nippon Yusen K.K. led shipping lines lower after commodity transport fees broke a seven-day winning streak. “The yen’s decline spurred investors to snap up exporters’ shares,” said Yoshihiro Ito, senior strategist at Tokyo-based Okasan Asset Management Co., which oversees about $9.3 billion. “People in the market are weighing how deep company earnings will slump in the current recession.” The Nikkei climbed 149.96, or 1.9 percent, to 8,173.27 as of 12:47 p.m. in Tokyo. The broader Topix index rose 14.56, or 1.8 percent, to 810.55, with more than three stocks gaining for each that fell. The Nikkei headed for a 7.5 percent decline this week, the worst since the period ended Oct. 24, on concern companies from Sony Corp. to Toshiba Corp. will miss earnings’ forecasts and as a record decline in machinery orders pointed to a prolonged global recession. The Topix was poised for a 5.4 percent drop. Weakening Yen Honda, Japan’s second-biggest automaker, rose 3.9 percent to 1,934 yen, while Sony, which gets a quarter of its sales from the U.S., added 2.7 percent to 2,035 yen. Denso Corp., an auto-parts affiliate of Toyota Motor Corp., climbed 3.9 percent to 1,590 yen after Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. raised its rating on the stock to “outperform” from “market perform.” The yen weakened to as much as 90.33 against the dollar today from 88.97 at the 3 p.m. close of stock trading in Tokyo yesterday. The dollar rose against the yen and euro after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet signaled he may cut interest rates again in March after the ECB reduced its benchmark rate yesterday by half a percentage point to 2 percent. A weaker yen boosts the value of overseas sales for Japanese companies. Sumitomo Metal, Japan’s second-biggest copper smelter, added 3.8 percent to 895 yen. Copper futures for March delivery gained for the first time in three days today, rising as much as 3.9 percent. Intel Effect Sumco soared 7.3 percent to 1,201 yen, and Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., a provider of semiconductor silicon, added 5.7 percent to 4,280 yen. Intel, the world’s top maker of semiconductors, yesterday said its margins may rebound as orders pick up from customers running low on inventories. Tokyo Electron Ltd., the world’s second-largest maker of semiconductor equipment, climbed 6.4 percent to 3,060 yen. Nikon Corp., Japan’s largest maker of steppers used in semiconductor production, gained 5.3 percent to 1,059 yen. Intel’s spending on facilities will be little changed or slightly down from last year’s $5.2 billion, the company said. T&D Holdings Inc., Japan’s biggest listed life insurer, advanced 6 percent to 3,080 yen, after having lost almost a quarter of its value in the previous seven days. Nipponkoa Insurance Co. rose 7.1 percent to 653 yen, breaking a five-day losing streak. Insurance companies, which lost 9.4 percent this week through yesterday, were the biggest winners. “Today’s gain was merely a rebound from the big decline,” Koichi Takatsuka, a Tokyo-based senior fund manager at United Investments Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “Insurers have been heavily sold recently.” Nippon Yusen, Japan’s largest shipping company, slumped 3.5 percent to 493 yen, leading its peers to the biggest decline among the Topix groups. Smaller rival Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. lost 2.7 percent to 367 yen. The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, retreated 1.3 percent, the first drop since Jan. 5. Nikkei futures expiring in March added 1.6 percent to 8,170 in Osaka and gained 1.7 percent to 8,165 in Singapore.

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