The Nikkei 225 was fractionally higher Monday, adding 5.49 points to 17,289.3, while the Topix index gained 0.4 percent to 1,705.71.

The Mothers market of small and mid-cap stocks was 1.63 percent higher to 852.93.

The gains came despite predicted declines after the ruling Liberal Democratic party lost its control of the upper house of Japan’s parliament, the Diet, in Sunday’s elections.

The steel sector saw gains after JFE (TYO: 5411) said its operating profit in the quarter ending in June was up 59 percent and income was 63 percent higher.

JFE added 5 percent to ¥8,350.

Nippon Steel (TYO: 5401) also announced a profit increase and Nippon Metal (TYO: 5479) said its income was a ¥3.5 billion, up from ¥75 million last year at the same time.

Quarterly reports helped some in the electronics sector as well, where Mitsubishi Electric (TYO: 6503) was 9.9 percent higher to ¥1,266 after it said that profits were up by 63 percent in the most recent quarter.

On the other hand, Sony (TYO: 6758; NYSE: SNE) was down 1.1 percent to ¥6,350.

In the automobile manufacturing sector Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203.T; NSYE: TM; LSE: TYT) gained 0.1 percent to ¥7,270 after early declines.

Sectors that are domestically focused were lower after more price cuts were announced by NTT DoCoMo (TYO: 9437), which then dropped 2.4 percent to ¥166,000.

KDDI (TYO: 9433) was also lower, falling 2.1 percent to ¥793,000.

Softbank (TYO: 9984), which also has a mobile phone unit, was 1 percent lower to ¥2,490.

Tokyo equities markets were up on Wednesday despite early losses. The Nikkei 225, which was down by over 4 percent on Tuesday, added 0.6 percent to 14,309.56, while the Topix index gained 0.5 percent to 1,466.14. Meanwhile, the Mothers index of small and mid-cap stocks was up 3.7 percent to 1,394.09.

The transport equipment sector added 0.9 percent as a whole. Honda was up 0.7 percent to ¥6,790, while Toyota gained 1.1 percent to ¥5,590 and Mazda advanced by 2.5 percent to ¥618.

An expected decline in rubber prices spurred Goldman Sachs to recommend both Sumitomo Rubber, which it just began covering, and tyre maker Bridgestone. Sumitomo Rubber added 8.2 percent to ¥1,271, while Bridgestone advanced by 1.1 percent to ¥2,190.

Another export-focused sector, electronics, gained 0.6 percent on the day. Mitsubishi Electric added 1 percent to ¥844, while Matsushita Electric Industrial was up 1.4 percent to ¥2,245.

Retailers were up 0.5 percent on the day as a sector, with Aeon advancing by 3.7 percent on the day after recent losses.

In the telecommunications sector, KDDI dropped 1.2 percent to ¥661,000 after it said that personal information on approximately 4 million customers had been disclosed.