Nikkei ends above 10,000 mark

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index clawed its way higher Tuesday to close above 10,000 for the first time since September 14.

Japanese banks and automakers moved higher in a broad advance that took Tokyo's rally into a fourth day.

But a handful of technology stocks, including Sony, Toshiba, Fujitsu and NEC, closed lower on fears about their exposure to a global downturn.

The Nikkei 225 average was down in the morning session, but strengthened later in the day to finish at 10,136.56, for a gain of 164.28 points or 1.65 percent. Its low for the day was 9871.94.

It was the Nikkei's highest close since September 11, when it finished at 10,292.95.

After being flat in the morning session, the broader capital-weighted TOPIX index put on 20.6 points to finish at 1067.63, or 1.97 percent higher.

Good gains by banking stocks

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group was the standout in Japanese banking stocks, picking up more than 4 percent to close 39,000 yen higher at 998,000 yen.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking (up 3.3 percent) and Mizuho Holdings (up 1.5 percent) also made good gains, while UFJ put on just 0.17 percent.

Elsewhere in the region, Australia's market built on Monday's gains, with the benchmark S&P/ASX200 putting on 41.9 points or 1.35 percent to 3140.8, its highest close since September 11.

New Zealand's Top 40 index was up 30.66 points or about 1.67 percent to 1867.94.

In Singapore, the Straits Times index was up 11.49 points or 0.86 percent to 1343.77 near the close.

But Taiwan disappointed, with the Taiex finishing down almost 4 percent at 3492.12.

Markets in Korea, Hong Kong and China were closed Tuesday for national holidays.

Initial downturn on Wall Street's falls

Tokyo's initial downturn came after U.S. stocks closed slightly weaker Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 10.73 points or 0.12 percent to 8836.83, while the Nasdaq composite was off 1.22 percent, losing 18.34 points to 1480.46.

Japan's top automaker Toyota Motor jumped 3.7 percent to 3380 Tuesday, after Monday's 6.54 percent gain, despite the dollar's jump to a three-week high against the yen in New York.


NTT DoCoMo was steady, after launching its 3G service on Monday

Nissan and Honda were also up, but by much smaller margins.

Consumer electronics giant Sony Corp, the world's biggest maker of audio-visual equipment, finished 1.22 percent lower at 4050 yen, extending its 6.61 percent tumble in the previous session in the wake of a hefty cut in its profit forecast.

Toshiba Corp, Japan's top semiconductor maker, lost just over 2 percent to 429 yen, while NEC was down 1.6 percent to 930 yen and Fujitsu lost almost 4 percent to 947 yen.

"Watching big-name high-techs revise down multiple times is very discouraging," Yoshihisa Okamoto, senior vice president at Fuji Investment Management, told Reuters news agency.

Telco NTT puts on 6.6 percent

But Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp, Japan's top carrier, put on 6.6 percent to 592,000 yen, while mobile phone leader NTT DoCoMo was steady at 1.72 million yen, after introducing its commercial 3G service on Monday.

NTT Data, Japan's largest system integrator, soared 9.21 percent to 605,000 yen, underlining an advance for computer system integrators and software developers.

In Australia, most blue chips were higher, but resources stocks BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and WMC eased, as did retailer Coles Myer. The country's big four banks, NAB, CBA, Westpac and ANZ were among the gainers, on expectations of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia on Wednesday.

Reuters contributed to this report.