By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, March 2 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average edged up 0.5 percent on Tuesday as chip-linked stocks rose after a bullish outlook from flash memory maker SanDisk Corp pushed up shares of their U.S. peers.
Astellas Pharma Inc lost 1.5 percent after launching a $3.5 billion hostile bid for U.S. firm OSI Pharmaceuticals to gain access to the blockbuster Tarceva cancer drug, in the latest move by a Japanese drugmaker to expand overseas.
But analysts said investors were wary after a wave of data cast doubt on the pace of the U.S. economic recovery, even though some were taking hope that Greece may be nearing a deal with EU governments to get some kind of emergency aid.
'There are both good and bad factors today -- hope that there may be a few forward steps on Greece's debt issues, but also worry about how solid the U.S. economic recovery is after a lot of indicators there suggest the pace may be slowing,' said Hideyuki Ishiguro, a strategist at Okasan Securities.
There was speculation that a visit to Athens by EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn and European Central Bank Executive Board member Juergen stark could move EU governments closer to a deal, but uncertainty remained over whether the other governments will agree on support.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity declined to 56.5 in February from 58.4 in January. The median forecast of 80 economists surveyed by Reuters was for a reading of 57.5.
But U.S. consumer spending increased slightly faster than expected in January.
'The manufacturing data from the U.S. wasn't that good but still shows signs of expansion, suggesting that however slight the gains might be, things are still heading in a brighter direction,' said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at the equity division of Nikko Cordial Securities.
The benchmark Nikkei gained 50.86 points to 10,222.92, while the broader Topix rose 0.3 percent to 901.99.
Nikkei broke above its 25-day moving average, currently at around 10,200. That followed a week of being trapped between the 25-day moving average and 200-day moving average, at just over 10,000 and the breaking out of this range could point to future gains, said Okasan's Ishiguro.
Shares of Astellas Pharma Inc fell to 3,295 yen after news of the OSI bid. In the United States, OSI shares surged 51.9 percent to $56.25, well above Astellas' $52-per-share offer as analysts expected a higher price or even a rival bid from potential suitors such as Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG, OSI's partner on Tarceva.
The U.S. PHLX Semiconductor index rose 3.1 percent on Monday after SanDisk Corp late on Friday raised its revenue forecast for the first quarter late Friday and said the outlook for the industry in the coming years is strong.
Chip-tester maker Advantest Corp rose 2.7 percent to 2,155 yen, stepper maker Nikon rose 2.3 percent to 2,000 yen, and memory maker Tokyo Electron gained 2.2 percent to 5,630 yen. Shares of Toshiba Corp jumped 2.7 percent to 461 yen.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
((elaine.lies@thomsonreuters.com; 81-3-6441-1807; Reuters messaging: elaine.lies.reuters@reuters.com))
((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com))
Keywords: MARKETS JAPAN STOCKS (Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 * Reuters Plus: from your WebDSS screen For more information on Top News, visit http://topnews.reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
TOKYO, March 2 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average edged up 0.5 percent on Tuesday as chip-linked stocks rose after a bullish outlook from flash memory maker SanDisk Corp pushed up shares of their U.S. peers.
Astellas Pharma Inc lost 1.5 percent after launching a $3.5 billion hostile bid for U.S. firm OSI Pharmaceuticals to gain access to the blockbuster Tarceva cancer drug, in the latest move by a Japanese drugmaker to expand overseas.
But analysts said investors were wary after a wave of data cast doubt on the pace of the U.S. economic recovery, even though some were taking hope that Greece may be nearing a deal with EU governments to get some kind of emergency aid.
'There are both good and bad factors today -- hope that there may be a few forward steps on Greece's debt issues, but also worry about how solid the U.S. economic recovery is after a lot of indicators there suggest the pace may be slowing,' said Hideyuki Ishiguro, a strategist at Okasan Securities.
There was speculation that a visit to Athens by EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn and European Central Bank Executive Board member Juergen stark could move EU governments closer to a deal, but uncertainty remained over whether the other governments will agree on support.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity declined to 56.5 in February from 58.4 in January. The median forecast of 80 economists surveyed by Reuters was for a reading of 57.5.
But U.S. consumer spending increased slightly faster than expected in January.
'The manufacturing data from the U.S. wasn't that good but still shows signs of expansion, suggesting that however slight the gains might be, things are still heading in a brighter direction,' said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at the equity division of Nikko Cordial Securities.
The benchmark Nikkei gained 50.86 points to 10,222.92, while the broader Topix rose 0.3 percent to 901.99.
Nikkei broke above its 25-day moving average, currently at around 10,200. That followed a week of being trapped between the 25-day moving average and 200-day moving average, at just over 10,000 and the breaking out of this range could point to future gains, said Okasan's Ishiguro.
Shares of Astellas Pharma Inc fell to 3,295 yen after news of the OSI bid. In the United States, OSI shares surged 51.9 percent to $56.25, well above Astellas' $52-per-share offer as analysts expected a higher price or even a rival bid from potential suitors such as Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG, OSI's partner on Tarceva.
The U.S. PHLX Semiconductor index rose 3.1 percent on Monday after SanDisk Corp late on Friday raised its revenue forecast for the first quarter late Friday and said the outlook for the industry in the coming years is strong.
Chip-tester maker Advantest Corp rose 2.7 percent to 2,155 yen, stepper maker Nikon rose 2.3 percent to 2,000 yen, and memory maker Tokyo Electron gained 2.2 percent to 5,630 yen. Shares of Toshiba Corp jumped 2.7 percent to 461 yen.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
((elaine.lies@thomsonreuters.com; 81-3-6441-1807; Reuters messaging: elaine.lies.reuters@reuters.com))
((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com))
Keywords: MARKETS JAPAN STOCKS (Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 * Reuters Plus: from your WebDSS screen For more information on Top News, visit http://topnews.reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.