--- Sharp extends gains on short-covering
"There is some data in the US tonight, which means people don't want to put too much in new positions today," a senior dealer at a foreign brokerage said. "We are seeing small profit-taking today. My flows are to the sell side ... It certainly seems to me that the market is still in an uptrend overall on the back of hopes of further yen weakening."
Led by exporters, the Nikkei has rallied 10.2 percent over the past 3-1/2 weeks as the yen has weakened after Shinzo Abe, the leader of the main opposition party which is expected to win a December 16 general election, called for the Bank of Japan to embark on "unlimited easing" and set an inflation target of 2 percent. Half of Japan's manufacturers say their top request for the winner of the election is a push to weaken the yen, which they see as critical to reviving the country's economy, a Reuters polls showed.
The benchmark Nikkei is up 12.9 percent this year, in line with a 12.4 percent rise in the US S&P 500 but behind a 14 percent gain in the pan-European STOXX Europe 600 index. Investors are waiting on November nonfarm payrolls data due at 1330 GMT to see how how much superstorm Sandy disrupted US economic activity.
Economists in a Reuters survey forecast 93,000 jobs were created in the United States last month compared with 171,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate is seen at 7.9 percent. Japan's broader Topix inched up 0.1 percent to 789.64 Some exporters headed lower, including Nikon Corp, Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co, down between 0.4 and 1 percent, as investors locked in some of the recent gains.
But Sharp Corp surged 6.5 percent, extending the previous session's 9.9 percent jump on short covering after a Taiwan newspaper quoted Hon Hai Precision Industry's chairman as saying that US Qualcomm Inc's tie-up will not affect Hon Hai's talks with the struggling TV maker to become its biggest shareholder. Short-selling interest in Sharp has fallen lately, although it still remains high with 91.41 percent of its stock that is available to be borrowed out on loan as of December 5, down from 93.46 percent on November 30, according to data provider Markit.