The Tokyo equities markets were higher on Tuesday, with the real estate and retail sectors up and the insurance sector down slightly. The Nikkei 225 ended the session 0.2 percent higher to 16,385.96, while the Topix index added 0.1 percent to 1,651.35.
Export-focuses sectors were lower as the yen strengthened. In the automobile manufacturing sector, Toyota dropped 0.5 percent to ¥6,340 and Nissan declined by 0.8 percent to ¥1,337.
Consumer electronics was down as well, with Matsushita Electric Industrial falling 0.6 percent to ¥2,510. Sharp dropped 1.9 percent to ¥2,080 after Daiwa cut its recommendation from “outperform” to “neutral” and revised its estimates of Sharp’s 2007-2008 operating profit in a downward direction.
Among domestic stocks, the insurance sector fell 0.8 percent as a whole, with Millea 0.9 percent lower to ¥2,170,000 and Sompo Japan down by 1.5 percent to ¥1,532.
Retailers were up 0.8 percent as a sector. Aeon gained 1 percent to ¥3,040, while department store chain Isetan was 1.8 percent higher to ¥2,035.
The real estate sector was higher on rising property prices, adding 2.1 percent as a whole. Mitsui Fudosan was 1.5 percent higher to ¥2,730. Sumitomo Realty & Development was 2 percent higher to ¥3,600, while Mitsubishi Estate gained 2.9 percent to ¥2,675.