
The following stocks were on the move:
**MONEX CLIMBS ON NEWS OF CAPITAL TIE-UP WITH ORIX SECURITIES**
Monex Group Inc and Orix Corp said on Wednesday that Monex will buy Orix's securities unit, Orix Securities, to merge their securities operations.
Orix will buy a 22.5 percent stake in Monex, the two companies said in a statement.
Monex was up 3.9 percent at 36,400, extending gains made in morning trade, but Orix fell 0.7 percent to 5,980 yen.
0354 GMT
**CHIP-RELATED SHARES FALL AFTER NASDAQ, CHIP INDEX SLIDE**
Advantest and other chip-related shares slipped after the Nasdaq posted its third straight day of falls after weaker than expected U.S. consumer confidence data prompted investors to take profits in U.S. equities.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also slid 2.5 percent.
Advantest, which makes chip testing equipment, lost 4.3 percent to 2,230 yen and Tokyo Electron, the world's second-largest semiconductor equipment maker, shed 4.6 percent to 5,340 yen. Nikon, a key maker of steppers, lost 3.5 percent to 1,686 yen.
0342 GMT
**DENA JUMPS AFTER BUYS CONTENTS FIRM IN US, CHINA**
DeNA Co Ltd rose 12.7 percent to 276,400 yen after the Internet and mobile phone auction site operator said it had bought the U.S. and China units of Grand Cayman-based mobile phone software company IceBreaker Inc.
DeNA said it hopes the purchase will shore up its social networking services abroad.
0200 GMT
**SEGA SAMMY JUMPS AFTER SMALLER H1 LOSS ESTIMATE**
Sega Sammy Holdings jumped 5.3 percent to 1,313 yen after the 'pachinko' pinball machine maker said it is likely to report far smaller first-half losses than previously estimated, thanks to cost-cutting and better-than-expected sales of slot machines, which have higher profit margins than pachinko machines.
The company said it now expects to report a 320 million yen operating loss for the six months ended in September, down from 12.5 billion yen loss in the previous estimate.
0200 GMT
**LEOPALACE21 DIVES AFTER WARNING OF ANNUAL LOSSES**
Leopalace21 Corp tumbled 15.3 percent to 532 yen after the real estate agent, which specialises in building and leasing apartments, said it expects annual losses as the economic downturn has led to a higher vacancy rate for its apartments.
It now projects a group net loss of 19.10 billion yen ($208.4 million) in the year to next March instead of a profit of 8.7 billion yen it had previously forecast.
0135 GMT
**SHIMANO PLUNGES AFTER CUTTING FULL-YEAR OUTLOOK**
Shimano Inc plunged 7.6 percent to 3,630 yen after the bicycle parts maker cut its full-year operating profit forecast by 18 percent, citing a slow recovery in demand. The firm said it now expects 20 billion yen in operating profit for 2009, down from 24.5 billion yen in the previous forecast.
0119 GMT
**KAO FALLS AFTER OUTLOOK CUT**
Kao fell 3.5 percent to 2,075 yen after Japan's top maker of toiletry goods on Tuesday slashed its earnings projections for the year to March 2010, citing a deeper-than-expected slump in cosmetics sales.
Deutsche Securities cut its rating on Kao to 'hold' from 'buy' and lowered the price target for the shares to 2,200 yen from 2,400 yen.
0042 GMT
**CANON SLIDES ON Q3 PROFIT DROP; RICOH DOWN**
Shares of Canon and Ricoh fell after the office equipment makers reported sharp falls in quarterly profit on sluggish copier demand as companies reined in spending.
Canon slid 3.4 percent to 3,460 yen, while Ricoh shed 0.5 percent to 1,250 yen.
Both Canon and Ricoh stood by their annual operating profit forecasts, which are down 62 percent and 46 percent, respectively, as they see no clear end to the current slump in office equipment demand.
0020 GMT
**HONDA BID HIGHER AFTER ALMOST TRIPLES OUTLOOK**
Honda Motor Co shares were untraded due to a glut of buy orders at 2,965 yen, up 4.2 percent from Tuesday's close after it surprised with a near tripling of its annual profit forecasts that some said may yet be conservative.
That would bump it further ahead of rivals thanks to a dominant motorcycle business and line-up heavy in small cars.
0010 GMT
(Reporting by Tokyo newsroom)
((aiko.hayashi@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: aiko.hayashi.reuters.com@reuters.net; +81 3 6441 1802))
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