Tokyo shares close mixed to higher on Koizumi winning LDP election

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Share prices closed mixed to higher, led by a late wave of short-covering which set in on the news that reformist Junichiro Koizumi has won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election, dealers said.	    Koizumi secured 298 votes, far above the majority threshhold of 243 votes.	    Orix Securities Co Ltd equity section chief Hiroyuki Kakizawa said short-covering via the futures market increased after the news came in, which "probably reflected the underlying positive expectation for his commitment to structural reforms".	    "But, more realistically, the confirmation of a firm downside support below the 13,500 point level on the Nikkei 225 index, stood as a stronger cause for short-covering," he added.	    The Nikkei 225 index closed up 27.58 points at 13,743.18, off a high of 13,762.95 and a low of 13,403.27.	    Volume was 860 mln shares.	    The Topix index was down 3.31 points at 1,328.00, while the Nikkei 300 was down 1.23 points at 266.58.	    There were 854 risers and 466 decliners, with 143 stocks unchanged.	    The Nikkei June futures contract was up 100 points at 13,810 on the Osaka exchange and was at 13,825 on the SGX.	    The broader market remained top-heavy throughout the day, however, due to concerns that Koizumi's future policy management will be assisted by LDP's incumbent policy research head Shizuka Kamei, they said.	    "The market is now focusing on what position Kamei will take under the Koizumi's cabinet and full line-up of his new administration," Chuo Securities Co Ltd equity department head Akira Nakamura said.	    Kamei, however, said he will not seek any key party executive post or any Cabinet position, even if he is asked by presidential favourite Koizumi.	    WestLB associate director Takafumi Ochiai said investors will be interested to see if Koizumi is able to appoint cabinet members without considering LDP political factions.	    Ochiai said that LDP presidential candidate Shizuka Kamei's withdrawal from today's main election means that he wants one of his faction members to be appointed to Koizumi's cabinet.	    "If Koizumi can ignore these pressures from factions, it will bring positive impact to the local equity market," he said. 	    Chuo's Nakamura said some nervous trading will continue in the run-up to earnings results among high-tech firms to be released Thursday and Friday.	    On Thursday, Fujitsu, Sharp, and Advantest will release year to March results, while Toshiba, Mitsubishi Electric, Hitachi, Matsushita Electric Industrial and Sony will do so on Friday.	    "We have already known that most of high-tech firms will post weak earnings for the year to March 2001 results," he said.	    Fujitsu fell 6 to 1,745, with NEC declining 60 to 2,120 and Mitsubishi Electric off 30 at 720.	    Chuo's Nakamura cited the late rebound of leading high-techs as the key driver for the upturn of the bellwether Nikkei 225 index.	    TDK ended up 120 at 7,32, after sold to 7,020 earlier, with Tokyo Electron finished steady at 8,950, off a low of 8,560.	    The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Tokyo Electron is expected to have seen net orders received for semiconductor manufacturing equipment falling 64 pct year-on-year to 58.4 bln yen in the first quarter to March.	    "We also saw some rising interest in firms with solid earnings such as Nissan," Nakamura said.	    Nissan Motor ended the session up 16 at 864 after the company announced yesterday it will make a dividend payment for the year to March 2001, the first in three years.	    Shinko Securities senior analyst Shinji Kitayama said that despite the rapid deterioration of the U.S. market, Nissan will be able to experience continued earnings growth thanks to the spill-over impact of the Nissan Revival Plan and the yen's fall.	    The analyst, who forecast Nissan's operating profit will grow to 320 bln yen in the year to March 2002 from 240 bln yen for the year to March 2001, reiterated his outperform rating and the price target of 1,000 yen for Nissan.	    Hino Motors rose 12 to 582 on news that the company was examining private allotment of new shares with Toyota Motor Corp.	    Toyota was down 30 at 4,000.	    NTT DoCoMo fell 120,000 to 2.40 mln yen on a local media report that the company will delay the launch of its 3G cellular phone services until October from the original end-May date.	    Tsubasa Research Institute analyst Motoharu Sone said the reaction has been overdone as the reported delay would not pose any significant downside risk for the company's earnings performance.	    Sone, however, said he sees more of a business risk for handset makers such as Matsushita Communications related to NTT DoCoMo's decision to delay the 3G service.	    Matsushita Communication was one of a few makers which planned to supply 3G-compatible handsets immediately after the roll-out of the new service.	    Matsushita Communications was down 260 at 7,640. 

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