Nikkei up, but banks and Hitachi weigh

Seesaws in thin trade, GDP has little impact TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.2 per cent on Monday, buoyed by retailers and other defensive shares, but weighed by banks and companies including Hitachi Ltd that sank on fundraising concerns.

In moderate trade that flipped from positive to negative and back again, the benchmark Nikkei gained 20.87 points to 9,791.18. The broader Topix lost 0.7 per cent to 860.42.

Hitachi sank 8.5 per cent to 269 yen and Mitsui Chemicals Inc lost 13.2 per cent to 243 yen after the chemicals manufacturer said on Friday it would rise up to $713 million in a public share offering to fund its expansion into the Chinese market.
Marui Group, which operates department stores and credit card operations, rose 6.9 per cent to 539 yen after Nomura Securities raised its rating on the company to "neutral" from "reduce", citing a more stable earnings structure.

Fast Retailing gained 5.2 per cent on the perennial popularity of Uniqlo, its discount clothing chain, while FamilyMart Co edged up 0.4 per cent after saying on Friday it would buy smaller rival am/pm.

Trade was moderate, with 1.8 billion shares changing hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section compared with last week's daily average of 1.73 per cent.