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Nikkei rises after Wall St gains; yen strength eyed

Published 05/01/2011, 10:54 PM
Updated 05/01/2011, 10:56 PM
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* Sony up after news to resume some PlayStation Network services

* Commodity stocks outperform on gold and oil prices

By Ayai Tomisawa

TOKYO, May 2 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average climbed 1 percent on Monday as commodity stocks climbed on recent strong gold and oil prices, while Sony gained after the electronics giant said it would resume some services on its PlayStation Network this week.

The benchmark average has neared the 10,000 mark and could climb above it spurred by gains on Wall Street, although a firmer yen could limit further rises and lead to profit-taking. The dollar on Monday fell to a one-month low below 81.047 yen.

"If the yen weakens and we see good corporate earnings, the Nikkei would easily top the 10,000 mark, but under the current strong yen environment, investors are still cautious," said Tsuyoshi Kawata, a senior strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities.

The Nikkei was up 1.0 percent at 9,945.24 at the midday break, while the broader Topix rose 1.1 percent to 861.43.

Volume was thin, with only 781 million shares changing hands on the Tokyo stock exchange's main board, which is poised to post a smaller daily volume than last week's average of 1.73 billion shares.

Analysts said trading may remain subdued as Japanese markets will be closed from Tuesday to Thursday for the Golden Week string of national holidays.

Commodity stocks outperformed after gold surged to a record high on Friday while oil prices also pushed higher, posting an eighth straight month of gains.[ID:nLDE73S0WL][ID:nL3E7FT0DJ]

Trading houses Mitsubishi Corp gained 1.2 percent to 2,205 yen and Mitsui & Co added 2.0 percent to 1,461 yen.

Sony rose 2.0 percent to 2,305 yen after it said it would resume some PlayStation Network services this week and offer incentives to customers to try to prevent them turning to competitors after the theft of personal information belonging to 78 million user accounts. [ID:nL3E7G101C]

Elpida Memory climbed 2.0 percent to 1,226 yen after the Nikkei newspaper said the chipmaker will begin mass-producing DRAM chips using the world's most advanced technology in July. (Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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