By Shinichi Saoshiro
TOKYO, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Japanese shares inched up on
Tuesday as a weaker yen propped up exporters, although negative
factors including the U.S.-China trade war and Brexit concerns
curbed market gains.
At 0153 GMT, Japan's Nikkei share average .N225 was up
0.18% at 20,657.81.
There were 157 advancers on the Nikkei index against 62
decliners.
Adding to investor caution already heightened by the
Washington-Beijing trade conflict was the prospect of more
Brexit-related market turmoil.
British lawmakers decide later on Tuesday whether to move
Britain a step closer to an early election, when they vote on
the first stage of their plan to block Prime Minister Boris
Johnson from pursuing a no-deal Brexit. With the yen JPY= edging further away from an eight-month
high against the dollar last week, shares of major exporters
advanced.
Toyota Motor Corp 7203.T climbed 0.8%, Subaru 7270.T was
up 1.7%, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 7011.T rose 0.5% and
Panasonic 6752.T added 0.7%.
Nickel-related companies gained as the price of the metal
soared to a five-year high due to shortage worries as top
producer Indonesia said it would stop ore exports from January
2020, two years earlier than initially flagged. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co 5713.T rallied 2.8% and Pacific
Metals Co 5541.T climbed 1.9%.
The broader Topix .TOPX gained 0.44% to 1,511.82.
The stocks that gained the most among the top 30 core Topix
names were Shin-Etsu Chemical Co 4063.T , which rose 1.7%, and
Hitachi 6501.T , up 1.6%.
The worst performers among the Topix 30 were Fanuc Corp
6954.T , which lost 1.3%, followed by KDDI Corp 9433.T , down
0.7%.
(Editing by Richard Borsuk)