TOKYO, April 7 (Reuters) - Japanese shares ticked higher on
Wednesday after posting their biggest drop in nearly two weeks
in the previous session, while electronics makers advanced
following news that Toshiba Corp had received a proposal to go
private in a $20 billion deal.
The benchmark Nikkei share average .N225 climbed 0.01% to
29,694.37 by 0212 GMT, while the broader Topix .TOPX rose
0.29% to 1,960.02. On Tuesday, the Nikkei and Topix had closed
1.3% and 1.5% lower, respectively.
"Investors are buying stocks after yesterday's sharp
decline. This is a natural move," said Hideyuki Suzuki, general
manager at investment research for SBI Securities.
"The news on Toshiba has sent electronics makers higher.
Investors could be thinking that if the Toshiba gets delisted,
they would have to shift the money to its peers."
Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is proposing taking
Toshiba 6502.T private in a deal worth about $20 billion,
Reuters reported citing a person familiar with the matter, as
the tech giant faces pressure from activist shareholders to
improve its governance. Toshiba shares were untraded with a glut of buy orders at
their daily-limit high. They were set to close the day 18.3%
higher.
Fujitsu 6702.T jumped 2.43%, Hitachi 6501.T gained 1.24%
and Sharp 6753.T edged up 0.27%.
Shipping firm Nippon Yusen 9101.T rose 1.3% after raising
its profit forecast for the year ended March to 200 billion yen
($1.82 billion) from 160 billion yen.
Its peers Kawasaki Kisen 9107.T advanced 1.83% and Mitsui
OSK Lines 9104.T climbed 1%.
Other cyclical shares also gained after the International
Monetary Fund raised its global growth forecast to 6% this year,
a rate not seen since the 1970s, from 5.5% earlier. The Topix sub-index for materials .IMELT.T .ISTEL.T
gained the most among the 33 sub-indexes.
($1 = 109.6200 yen)