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Japanese shares end slightly higher

AP - Tuesday, July 29

TOKYO - Japanese stocks ended slightly higher Monday as investors were cautious ahead of earnings and financial data due out later in the week.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index inched up 19.02 points, or 0.14 percent, to close at 13,353.78, ending in positive territory after falling nearly 2 percent Friday. The index started Monday's session off strongly, rising nearly 100 points, before faltering in the afternoon.

"There was some selling as the dollar weakened during the day, and investors are cautious ahead of the earnings and data coming out this week," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at Nikko Cordial Securities.

Investors are especially watching companies' financial forecasts. Honda Motor Corp. ended the day down 2.9 percent at 3,650 yen. The automaker reported record profit for a fiscal first quarter on Friday, but cut its vehicle sales forecast for the fiscal year through March 2009.

Advantest Corp., which manufactures equipment to make microchips and is viewed as a technology bellwether in Tokyo, plunged 6 percent to 2,170 yen, after Friday reporting a quarterly loss and predicting more red ink ahead.

Meanwhile a number of exporters did well on the day. Major trading house Mitsui & Co. Ltd. shot up 5.7 percent to 2,230 yen, and video game giant Nintendo Co. rose 2.2 percent to 55,300 yen.

The Topix, an index of all shares in the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, also ended slightly higher, rising 0.19 percent to 1,300.79.

The mild gains in Tokyo came after a similarly tepid rise in New York, where Friday the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.19 percent to 11,370.69.

Investors on both sides of the Pacific are awaiting the U.S. governments employment report for July, due out Friday this week.

In currency trading, the dollar bought 107.67 yen midafternoon in Tokyo, down from 107.90 yen late Friday in New York. The euro rose to $1.5703, up from $1.5678.

The dollar was stronger against some Asian currencies. The greenback rose to 1.3633 against the Singapore dollar and to 33.4060 against the Thai baht.

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