Nikkei closes at 14 week high

In Tokyo on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.2 percent to 11,789.35 and the Topix index was up 0.4 percent to close at 1,196.33. The Nikkei’s closing figure was a 14-week high.

Instrumental in the gains were good first-half figures from China on its gross domestic product, which helped overcome bad quarterly reports from Yahoo and Intel in the United States. The Yahoo and Intel news that sent US technology stocks down generally.

Yahoo Japan was down 1.3 percent to ¥641, while Advantest, which makes chip testing devices, fell 0.9 percent to ¥8,170. Not all technology stocks were down, however, as industrial robot maker Fanuc gained 4.1 percent to ¥7,640. The news from China helped sectors that do a great deal of business there.

Nippon Steel was up 1.8 percent to ¥276, while Tokyo Steel Manufacturing gained 3.6 percent to ¥1,475 and Japan’s largest shipper, Nippon Yusen, gained 0.8 percent to ¥641.

Meanwhile, camera maker Pentax gained 7.1 percent to ¥407 when it raised its net profits forecast for 2005 by 35 percent on stronger than expected sales of digital cameras.

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