Nikkei stays up

Japan's Nikkei share average rose for the fourth straight day on Thursday as momentum was sustained by mixed data from China that kept hopes alive for policy action to tackle the slowdown in Japan's biggest export market. The benchmark index closed up 1.1 percent at 8,978.60, stepping above its 200-day moving average at 8,956.20. The Nikkei is now up 5 percent on the week, poised to mark the biggest weekly gain since December if it closes above 9,972.94 on Friday.
--- Nikkei set for biggest weekly gain since December
Market analysts said the Bank of Japan's decision to hold fire on further monetary easing, in line with market consensus, was unlikely to have spurred an acceleration in the Nikkei's gains in the afternoon that briefly drove it above the psychologically key 9,000 level. "I do not see a convincing reason why the BOJ conforming to market expectations and delivering no easing translates to stock buying," said Naomi Fink, Japan equities specialist at Jefferies.
Speculation that China's central bank will ease to stimulate growth rose after the country's annual rate of consumer price inflation fell to a 30-month low of 1.8 percent in July, down from June's 2.2 percent increase. Another factor driving the Nikkei cash market was traders snapping up options around the 9,000 mark in time for Friday's "options special quotation", when a slew of options will be settled. Analysts said the Nikkei had surpassed another possible target around 8,750, shifting the focus to 9,000.
The broader Topix index advanced 0.8 percent to 751.84 in strong trade, with volume at 55.2 percent of its full-day average for the last 90 days. Some 1.9 billion shares traded hands, slightly down from Wednesday's 2.1 billion. The Nikkei's gains were curbed as Nikon Corp dropped 8.1 percent after falling as much as 11.8 percent to a six-month low as the camera maker unexpectedly cut its full-year earnings forecast, blaming a strong yen for eroding export revenue. The stock was the second-most traded on the main board.
Sanken Electric Co Ltd also suffered a 7.7 percent drop, striking a two-month low after it said orders were dropping at its US subsidiary and that Chinese demand for fan motors had stagnated, even though its results for the April-June quarter were in line with guidance. Telecommunications equipment maker Oki Electric Industry Co Ltd was the biggest loser, plummeting 33.6 percent after it said it had discovered inappropriate accounting practices at its Spanish subsidiary Oki Systems Iberica, which could result in losses of about 8 billion yen ($100 million) over several years.