Tokyo markets were higher as the Nikkei 225 and the Topix index each added 0.3 percent, to 18,221.48 and 1,788.16 respectively.
However, the consumer finance sector there saw declines on media reports that many borrowers are asking for refunds of overcharges on loan interest.
Promise (TYO: 8574) fell 2.4 percent to ¥3,710, while Aiful (TYO: 8515) was 4 percent lower to ¥3,360 and Acom (TYO: 8572; OTC: ACMU) dropped 4.1 percent to ¥4,250.
Bucking the trend was Credit Saison (TYO: 8253), which added 1.3 percent to ¥3,200.
The retail sector added 0.8 percent as a whole, with Aeon (TYO: 8267) up 0.9 percent to ¥2,310. Seven & I (TYO: 3382) gained 2.6 percent to ¥3,600 on an upgrade from “neutral” to “buy” from Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER; TYO: 8675).
In the electronics sector, Matsushita Electric Industrial (TYO: 6572; NYSE: MC) was 0.4 percent higher to ¥2,445, while Nintendo (TYO: 7974; NAS: NTDOY; FWB: NTO) gained 0.5 percent to ¥48,250 and Sony (TYO: 6758; NYSE: SNE) added 2.4 percent to ¥6,460 after recent declines due to poor sales of its PlayStation 3 games console.