Nikkei opens higher as techs rebound


DoCoMo president Keiji Tachikawa unveiled a sharply lower first-half profit Wednesday. The company's shares were down in early trade Thursday.

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks opened higher Thursday as high-tech shares such as Toshiba Corp bounced up from the previous day's slump on the small gains made by the U.S. Nasdaq.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 average was up 119.10 points or 1.16 percent at 10,404.08 in early trade, before easing to 10,345. The broader capital-weighted TOPIX index rose 6.55 points or 0.63 percent to 1,045.07.

Top chipmaker Toshiba, which on Wednesday foreshadowed temporary layoffs in the weeks ahead for 12,000 semiconductor plant workers, rose almost 5 percent to 490 yen.

Other chipmakers were more subdued. Fujitsu was up 0.22 percent to 902 yen, Hitachi rose 4 yen or 0.45 percent to 899 yen and NEC dropped 1.2 percent to 1231 yen.

Sony chairman Ohga hospitalized

Consumer electronics leader Sony Corp gained 1.91 percent to 4,800 yen. Sony board chairman Norio Ohga was hospitalized Wednesday after suffering a "fainting spell" while conducting the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra at the Beijing International Festival.

Mobile phone leader NTT DoCoMo, which reported a much-reduced first-half profit after a big writedown on overseas investments Wednesday, was down 2.6 percent to 1.49 million yen, off 40,000 yen.

Japanese technology stocks had slipped on Wednesday as a sharp slide in Qualcomm Inc in after-hours trade raised fears that the Nasdaq would fall steeply later in the day.

"In hindsight, yesterday's sell-off was a bit overdone," Masayoshi Okamoto, a trader at Jujiya Securities, told Reuters.

Australia, Korea make gains

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average finished down Wednesday, off 36.75 points or 0.38 percent to 9554.37, while the Nasdaq put on 2.45 points or 0.13 percent to 1837.53.

Other Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed Thursday, with Australia's S&P/ASX200 up about 0.76 percent to 3277.4 and New Zealand's Top 40 was down 1 percent to 1974.27.

In Seoul, Korea's Kospi was up strongly, 9.34 points or 1.66 percent higher to 571.37.

Reuters contributed to this report.