The Tokyo equities markets saw substantial gains on Wednesday, with gains in most sectors. The Nikkei 225 added 2.5 percent to 15,947.87, while the Topix index was 2.7 percent higher to 1,591.04.

The real estate sector was up 2.9 percent as a whole. Mitsui Fudosan gained 2 percent to ¥2,595, while Mitsubishi Estate was 3.4 percent higher to ¥2,465 and Sumitomo Realty & Development added 4.8 percent to ¥3,300.

Another domestically-focused sector, retailers, were up 2.9 percent. Broad-based retailer Seven & I was 3.2 percent higher to ¥3,820, while department store chain Matsuzakaya gained 3.6 percent to ¥751. Isetan added 5.2 percent to ¥1,943. General retailer Aeon was 3.5 percent higher after it said that, due to performance in its supermarkets, it will probably see a 19 percent rise in operating profits when it releases its half-year results.

In the steel sector, JFE gained 2.5 percent to ¥4,570. Nippon Steel, meanwhile, was up 3.5 percent to ¥479.

Consumer electronics were mixed. While Sony was up 3 percent to ¥4,860, Sharp dropped 1.2 percent to ¥2,020 after it announced that it will issue ¥200 billion worth of convertible bonds. The news spurred concerns that share values could be diluted.

The Tokyo equities markets were up strongly on Friday as investor pessimism seemed to ease, with both domestically-focused and export-oriented sectors seeing gains on the day. The Nikkei 225 added 1.8 percent to 15,789.31, while the Topix index was up 1.4 percent to 1,606.11.

Banks were up by 1.6 percent as a sector. The world’s biggest bank as figured by assets held, Mitsubishi UFJ, gained 1.3 percent to ¥1,570,000, while Mizuho was up 1.5 percent to ¥2,540.

The electronics sector also saw gains, rising 1.9 percent on the whole. Hitachi added 1.3 percent to ¥773. Consumer electronics giant Matsushita Electric, meanwhile, advanced by 2.6 percent to ¥2,540.

In the telecommunications sector, an upgrade from UBS sent mobile phone operator KDDI 5.1 percent higher to ¥756,000.

There was trouble, however, for companies in which activist shareholder Yoshiaki Murakami holds a large stake after it was said that Mr. Murakami’s fund is being investigated for possible securities law violations. This resulted in no trades at all for department store Matsuzakaya, which had an excess of sell orders. Sumitomo Warehouse dropped 7 percent to ¥739.

With foreign buyers selling more than they bought for the fourth consecutive session, Tokyo equities markets declined on Tuesday even though news from the corporate world tended toward the positive. The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.4 percent to 15,859.45, while the Topix index was down 0.2 percent to 1,612.76.

The real estate sector was down on continuing worries that values are too high. Tokyo Tatemono declined by 2.7 percent to ¥1,162. Mitsubishi Estate dropped 1.5 percent to ¥2,245. Mitsui Fudosan and Tokyu Land, meanwhile, each lost 1 percent, to ¥2,360 and ¥857 respectively.

Retailers also lost ground on the day, declining by 1.3 percent as a whole. Among department stores, Takashimaya was down 1.3 percent to ¥1,521, Matsuzakaya dropped 1.8 percent to ¥856, and Matsuya lost 5.8 percent to ¥1,950. Seven & I, which holds convenience stores and restaurants along with departments stores, was down 1.5 percent to ¥4,010, while convenience store operator Lawson fell 1 percent to ¥4,110.

The electronics sector was mixed, with NEC up 1.2 percent to ¥696 after it said it would talk with Matsushita Electric about joining up to manufacture cell phones. Matsushita, however, dropped 0.2 percent to ¥2,490.

Most Asian equities markets saw gains on Monday, with Tokyo again being the exception as the Topix index was slightly higher but the Nikkei was down by 55.08 points on the day. While the Topix added 0.2 percent, a mere 2.39 points, to 1,616.17 on steel and banking advances, the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.3 percent to 15,915.68.

The banking sector added 1.2 percent as a whole, with Mitsubishi UFJ and Resona each up by 2.7 percent, to ¥1,540,000 and ¥348,000 respectively. Despite forecasts for this year that were disappointing for some banks, most annual reports for the year just ended were good.

Steel companies were up on reports that European steel maker Arcelor will purchase Russian company Severstal. Nippon Steel gained 0.7 percent to ¥471, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing was up 1 percent to ¥2,460, and JFE added 1.7 percent to ¥4,860.

Toyota was up 0.5 percent to ¥6,140 after Daiwa Institute of Research raised its target share price on the carmaker.

Declines came in the retail sector after new data showed that year-on-year sales were down in April. Seven & I dropped 1 percent to ¥4,070, while Isetan was down 1.4 percent to 2,085 and Matsuzakaya declined 2 percent to ¥872.

In Tokyo on Wednesday the equities markets were up for the first time in over a week, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.9 percent to 16,307.67 and the Topix index gaining 0.7 percent to 1,657.07. Commodities stocks that were higher after recent declines were key to the day’s gains, even as sectors focused on domestic demand were generally down on the day.

The securities sector was down by 0.4 percent as a whole. Daiwa Securities, for example, was 2 percent lower to ¥1,463.

Retailers as a sector were also 0.4 percent lower, although stocks within the sector were mixed. Department store chain Matsuzakaya dropped by 1.5 percent to ¥933. On the other hand, convenience store chain Circle K Sunkus added 3.3 percent on the day to ¥2,690.

Steel and non-ferrous metals sectors were each 3 percent higher on the day, helped out by higher commodities prices. Mitsui Mining & Smelting and Sumitomo Metal Mining each added 4.7 percent, to ¥817 and ¥1,602 respectively. Nippon Steel, meanwhile, gained 4.4 percent to ¥428.

In the consumer finance sector, Aiful dropped 10.4 percent to ¥6,110 after it said that its annual profits were down last year and that they would probably fall further this year after it was forced by government regulators to shut down for a period earlier in the month.

The Nikkei and Topix indexes both saw declines in Tokyo on Monday as domestic stocks and stocks related to the commodities markets fell on the day.

The Nikkei 225 closed below 16,000 for the first time in over two weeks as it dropped 2.3 percent to 15,877.66. The Topix index fell 2.5 percent to 1,618.01.

Mitsui Mining’s announcement that it had reduced its zinc prices led to a 7 percent drop for the company’s shares, to ¥759. Meanwhile, falling crude oil prices led to declines in upstream oil companies. Inpex lost 7.5 percent to ¥1,110,000, while Teikoku Oil fell 7.3 percent to ¥1,604. However, oil-dependent transport companies did not benefit from the drop in oil prices and both the air and sea transport sectors declined on the day. Shipper Mitsui OSK Lines fell 3.3 percent to ¥881.

On the domestic side, a wide variety of stocks declined on worries that Japan’s stock market rally would not last. The retail sector dropped 2.9 percent as a whole, while real estate fell 3.9 percent and the securities sector declined by 4.7 percent.

In the retail sector, department stores saw the brunt of the declines with Takashimaya down 4.2 percent to ¥1,649 and Matsuzakaya falling 2.5 percent to ¥989. The downgrade of retailer Daiei by Merrill Lynch from “neutral” to “sell” sent shares in that company down 12.4 percent to ¥3,540.

Real estate company Tokyu Land dropped 4 percent to ¥1,112, while in the securities sector Daiwa Securities fell 6.6 percent to end at ¥1,263.