Tokyo’s markets were higher on Thursday, as the Nikkei 225 had its highest close in a month and a half with a gain of 2.41 percent to 16,832.22.

The Topix index added 2.48 percent to 1,615.15 while the Mothers market was 5.52 percent higher to 720.5.

Banks were higher on rumors that investor Warren Buffett is looking to buy a stake in Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC), boosting investor confidence that the subprime crisis will not cripple the financial services sector.

Among banks, Mizuho (TYO: 8411; NYSE: MFG) was up 4.78 percent to ¥658,000, while Resona Holdings (TYO: 8308) added 6.9 percent to ¥190,000.

Sumitomo Mitsui (TYO: 8316) gained 7 percent to ¥891,000. Regional bank Suruga Bank Ltd (TYO: 8358) was up 11 percent to ¥1,402 after it said it is talking to Japan Post about a deal.

Brokers were also higher, with Nomura Holdings (TYO: 8604; NYSE: NMR; SGX: N33) closing at ¥1,938 and Daiwa Securities (TYO: 8601) adding 8.6 percent to ¥1,114.

The consumer finance sector also saw gains after Takefuji (TYO: 8564) was reported to be preparing results showing that it will cross over into profit this year after losing ¥481.2 billion last year.

Takefuji was 16 percent higher to ¥2,155 after gaining the full amount allowed by the exchange in a session, while Aiful (TYO: 8515) and Promise (TYO: 8574) each gained 15 percent, to ¥1,909 and ¥2,850 respectively.

In the real estate sector, Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) raised its recommendations on both Mitsui Fudosan (TYO: 8801; NAS: MDSFF) and Sumitomo Realty & Development (TYO: 8830) from “hold” to “buy”.

Mitsui Fudosan was 7.7 percent higher to ¥3,210, while Sumitomo was up 7.9 percent to ¥4,090.

Elsewhere, Japan Tobacco (TYO: 2914) added 4.5 percent to ¥634,000 on a report out of London that it will bid on Turkey’s state-owned cigarette maker, Tekel.

Tokyo equities markets gained slightly Monday as the Nikkei 225 added 0.32 percent to 16,301.39, the Topix index gained 0.12 percent to 1,587.76 and the Mothers market of small and mid-caps was up 0.59 percent to 731.08.

The appointment of a new Finance Minister seemed to have little effect on the markets.

In the tobacco sector, Japan Tobacco (TYO: 2914) gained 3.4 percent to ¥609,000 after it said over the weekend that it will cut costs by consolidating overseas plants.

Among internet companies, Yahoo Japan (TYO: 4689) added 3.5 percent to ¥40,000 on an upgrade to “overweight” from JP Morgan Chase (TYO: 8634; NYSE: JPM).

Carmakers also made gains, with the sector as a whole advancing by 0.8 percent.

Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203.T; NYSE: TM; LSE: TYT) was up 0.6 percent to ¥6,700, while Honda Motor (TYO: 7267; NYSE: HMC) added 2.4 percent to ¥3,790.

Banks did not do as well. Sumitomo Mitsui (TYO: 8316) dropped 0.9 percent to ¥919,000, while Resona Holdings was down 1.3 percent to ¥237,000 after both banks had gains of over 2 percent earlier in the session.

Resisting the trend to gains in the Asia-Pacific region, Tokyo equities markets were lower on Wednesday.

The Nikkei 225 traded about even at 15,900.64, while the Topix index dropped 0.3 percent to 1,544.89 and the Mothers market fell 0.02 percent to 703.56.

Exporters were lower as it was announced that Japan’s trade surplus dropped in July for the first time in 9 months.

The surplus fell by 21.1 percent from a year earlier as exports grew by 11.7 percent but imports were up by 16.9 percent.

Optical glass maker Hoya (TYO: 7741; OTC: HOCP) dropped 1.5 percent to ¥3,890.

In the semiconductors sector, Advantest (TYO: 6857; NYSE: ATE) fell 0.9 percent to ¥4,220.

The automobile manufacturing sector was also hit by negative broker comment as Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) dropped its full-year profits forecast for several carmakers.

Toyota (TYO: 7203.T; NYSE: TM; LSE: TYT) was 0.5 percent lower to ¥6,550, while Honda Motor (TYO: 7267; NYSE: HMC) fell 1.1 percent to ¥3,630 and Nissan was down 1.5 percent to ¥1,107.

Banks were lower on fears that losses in the subprime crisis, so far fairly muted there, could increase as well as on new data that showed bank lending up at its slowest rate in almost a year and a half in July.

Mitsubishi UFJ (TYO: 8306; NYSE: MTU) and Sumitomo Mitsui (TYO: 8316) each were 1.8 percent lower, to ¥1.08 million and ¥884,000 respectively, while Resona Holdings (TYO: 8308) dropped 3.4 percent to ¥229,000.

Gains came for companies that benefited from the news that crude oil prices were lower.

Japan Airlines (TYO: 9205) added 4.2 percent to ¥250.

In Tokyo on Thursday the Nikkei 225 was 0.67 percent higher to 16,984.11 and the Topix index gained 0.03 percent to 1,669.33, but the Mothers market fell 0.21 percent to 830.18.

Gains were helped by a new report from Japan’s National Tax Agency which showed that land prices in the country were 8.6 percent higher last year, with a gain of 17 percent in Tokyo.

The report sent the real estate sector higher. Mitsui Fudosan (TYO: 8801; NAS: MDSFF) added 4.2 percent to ¥3,230, while Mitsubishi Estate (TYO: 8802) gained 6.3 percent to ¥3,200 and Tokyu Land (TYO: 8815) was up 7.9 percent to ¥1,208.

In addition, homebuilder Daiwa House Industry Co (TYO: 1925) was 4 percent higher to ¥1,570.

The retail sector also saw gains, with Fast Retailing (TYO: 9983) adding 4.8 percent to ¥6,820 on a successful bid for the Barneys New York chain of department stores, owned by Jones Apparel Group (NYSE: JNY).

Drug maker Chugai Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4519) gained 2.7 percent to ¥2,075 on an increased full-year projecting, while Astellas Pharma (TYO: 4503) was 3.1 percent higher to ¥5,050 on a fiscal first quarter net income gain of 52 percent.

In the electronics sector Pioneer (TYO: 6773) dropped 4.5 percent to ¥1,546 on a decline of 40 percent in sales of plasma televisions in the quarter, while Casio (TYO: 6952) fell 4.6 percent to ¥1,699 after it said quarterly operating profit was down 78 percent in the most recent quarter on poor sales of mobile phones.

Banks also saw declines, with Resona (TYO: 8308) down 3.3 percent to ¥238,000 and Mizuho (TYO: 8411) dropping 4.7 percent to ¥730,000.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei was 0.2 percent higher on Tuesday to 18,002, while the Topix index advanced 0.5 percent to 1,765.99 and the Mothers market of small and mid-caps jumped 1.98 percent to 852.21.

Tokyo Electric Power (TYO: 9501) was higher after several sessions of losses after last week’s earthquake damaged one of its nuclear power plants, adding 3.4 percent to ¥3,340.

Also managing a comeback was the telecommunications sector, which had been lower after two mobile operators announced price cuts.

KDDI (TYO: 9433) had the best rebound in the sector, gaining 4.8 percent to ¥870,000 on a 15.6 gain in operating profits in the quarter ending in June.

Elsewhere in the sector, NTT DoCoMo (TYO: 9437) was 1.1 percent higher to ¥178,000 and Softbank (TYO: 9984) was up ¥2,620.

The banking sector also saw gains.

Mitsubishi UFJ (TYO: 8306; NYSE: MTU) was 0.77 percent higher to ¥1,310,000, while Mizuho Financial (TYO: 8411; NYSE: MFG) gained 2.1 percent to ¥857,000 and Resona Holdings (TYO; 8308) added 4.1 percent to ¥280,000.

The Tokyo equities markets saw big gains on Thursday, mostly after comments out of the United States that US inflation would likely not continue to rise. The Nikkei 225 added 3.1 percent to 14,946.84, while the Topix index was up 3.6 percent to 1,528.59. Meanwhile, the Mother’s index of small and mid-caps gained 7.1 percent to 1,225.43. Gains were seen in both domestic and export-focused sectors.

Securities, banks, and non-bank consumer finance sectors all saw substantial gains. The consumer finance sector added 6.1 percent as a whole, with Aiful up 5.3 percent to ¥5,000, while Promise was 5.7 percent higher to ¥5,720 and Sanyo Shinpan gained 6 percent to ¥5,470.

In the securities sector, Nomura added 5.1 percent to ¥2,065, Mizuho Trust advanced by 6.1 percent to ¥278, Nikko Cordial gained 6.9 percent to ¥1,338, and Daiwa Securities was up 7.8 percent to ¥1,333.

Among banks, Mizuho gained 3.6 percent to ¥961,000, while Sumitomo Mitsui added 4.2 percent to ¥1,250,000, Resona advanced by 5.5 percent to ¥362,000, and Bank of Yokohama was up 6.4 percent to ¥925.

Japan Airlines turned around its series of losses to add 6.8 percent to ¥235. The advance came after it priced new shares at ¥211, a move which seemed to spur investors to put a bit more confidence in JAL’s new share offering.

Electronics and carmakers also saw gains on the session. Canon reversed early week losses to advance by 3 percent to ¥5,400, while Sony was up 3.4 percent to ¥4,830. Matsushita Electric Industrial added 4.8 percent to ¥2,200.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Toyota was up 3.2 percent to ¥5,800 and Honda added 4.6 percent to ¥3,640.

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.

Japanese equities markets declined significantly on Thursday on a plunging real estate sector, as concerns about the possibility of interest rate hikes worried some investors even while some analysts said the concerns were misplaced.

The Nikkei 225 fell 1.4 percent to 16,096.21, while the Topix index declined by 1.3 percent to 1,645.06.

The real estate sector dropped 3.7 percent overall, falling to below its level at the end of 2005. Sumitomo Realty & Development dropped 6.6 percent to ¥2,510, further damaged by a downgrade from Mizuho Securities. Mitsui Fudosan was down 4.4 percent ¥2,150, while Mitsubishi Estate was down 3.2 percent to ¥2,455.

Other domestic sectors were hit by interest rate concerns, as well. The banking sector dropped 2.3 percent overall, with Mitsubishi UFJ losing 2.4 percent to ¥1,650,000, SMFG down 3.2 percent to ¥1,220,000, and Resona declining by 3.1 percent to ¥374,000.

Seven & I, which operates convenience and department stores, was down 3.2 percent to ¥4,280 as the retail sector as a whole lost 1.5 percent on the day.

In export-reliant sectors, consumer electronics manufacturer Sony was down 1.8 percent to ¥5,370 when it said it will not release its PlayStation 3 game console until November.

The Tokyo equities markets were down on Wednesday as chip-related shares followed their American counterparts lower.

The Nikkei 225, which is heavily weighted for technology stocks, dropped 0.7 percent on the day to 15,762.54, while the Topix index dropped only 0.2 percent, helped out somewhat by rising steel shares.

Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest steel maker, gained 1.2 percent to ¥432, while JFE was up 1.7 percent to ¥4,130, helped out by recent mergers and acquisitions activity internationally.

Also seeing gains on the day was construction machinery manufacturer Komatsu, which gained 4.9 percent to ¥1,976 on what Daiwa Securities called strong demand, especially in China.

On the losing side, chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron dropped 2.7 percent to ¥7,870, while Advantest declined by 4.5 percent to ¥12,740.

Shares in the automobile manufacturing sector also followed Wall Street lower, with Toyota losing 1.7 percent to ¥6,280.

The banking sector declined on the day on speculation that Japanese interest rates will likely stay at zero for some time to come, even after the Bank of Japan begins to end its easy money policy. Mitsubishi UFJ lost 0.6 percent to ¥1,590,000, while Resona dropped 3.5 percent to ¥382,000.