The Tokyo equities markets were lower on Friday as trade volumes were low ahead of another holiday weekend. The Nikkei 225 dropped 1.51 percent to 17,091.51, while the Topix index was 1.4 percent lower to 1,675.33.

The automobile manufacturing sector saw losses as investors took profits after recent gains. Toyota was down 2.4 percent to ¥7,900, while Honda fell almost 3 percent to ¥4,600.

Other export-dependent sectors also saw declines. Canon was 2 percent lower to ¥6,530. Meanwhile, industrial robot manufacturer Fanuc fell 2.8 percent to ¥11,430. Bucking the trend was Toshiba, which was 1.64 percent higher to ¥808 on reports that it will develop a new boiling water reactor for nuclear power plants, to be marketed both domestically and in foreign markets by 2015.

Declines in crude oil prices hurt oil companies. Inpex dropped 2.5 percent to ¥919,000, while Japan Petroleum fell almost 5 percent to ¥6,610.

The steel sector was down as well, as were companies dealing in non-ferrous metals. Among steel makers, JFE was 5.7 percent lower to ¥5,750 and Nippon Steel was down 6 percent to ¥622. In the non-ferrous metals sector, Mitsubishi Materials fell 1.4 percent to ¥430, while Sumitomo Metal Mining was 2.5 percent lower to ¥1,456 and Toho Zinc dropped 7.4 percent to ¥1,021.

Gainers on the day included department store Isetan, which added 2 percent to ¥2,230 on record sales. Oji Paper was helped by the decline in crude oil prices, gaining almost 4 percent to ¥675.

Tokyo equities markets were higher on Thursday even though the non-ferrous metals sector declined by 0.4 percent after commodities prices fell in the overnight hours. The Nikkei 225 added 0.6 percent to 16,473.36, while the Topix index gained 0.5 percent to 1,622.77.

The recent advances in the consumer finance sector seemed to be slowing down. Takefuji remained steady at ¥4,770 and Credit Saison was 0.9 percent higher to ¥4,300. Only Aiful managed a significant gain, adding 4.1 percent to ¥3,850.

Two companies made their trading debuts on the session, but both IPOs suffered losses on their first day. Independent investment research business Japaninvest debuted with an IPO price fo ¥150,000 but closed down to ¥135,000. Meanwhile, internet service provider Nifty’s IPO price was ¥210,000; it ended the session at ¥203,000.

In the telecommunications sector, results were mixed. KDDI added 0.3 percent to ¥784,000, but Softbank dropped 0.4 percent to ¥3,475 and NTT DoCoMo fell 1.1 percent to ¥180,000 on the news that it has lost subscribers for the first time.

Among companies that deal in non-ferrous metals, Toho Zinc dropped 0.4 percent to ¥979, while Sumitomo Metal Mining fell 0.7 percent to ¥1,524 and Mitsui Mining $ Smelting was 1.3 percent lower to ¥551.

The Tokyo equities markets were up on Monday after last week’s break for the Golden Week holiday. The Nikkei 225 added 0.8 percent to 17,291.67 and the Topix index was up 1 percent to 1,755.03. Most of the gains were in domestic sectors, as banks were up 1.9 percent as a whole, while the real estate sector gained 4.6 percent and securities added 3.6 percent.

The gains in real estate came after the Bank of Japan released data showing that property prices in Japan were up for the first time in 15 years. Mitsui Fudosan added 6.7 percent to ¥2,690, while Sumitomo Realty & Development gained 5.9 percent to ¥3,210 and Mitsubishi Estate was up 3.2 percent to ¥2,565.

In the securities sector, Nomura gained 3.3 percent to ¥2,670, while Daiwa Securities added 4.3 percent to ¥1,665.

Among banks, Mitsubishi UFJ was up 2.2 percent to ¥1,840,000.

Sectors more focused on exports had a harder time on the day. Japan’s largest automobile manufacturer, Toyota, dropped 0.6 percent to ¥6,760.

Consumer electronics were mixed, with Sharp down 1.2 percent to ¥2,020 but Sony rising 2 percent to ¥5,660.

Steelmakers and miners had a better day of it. In the steel sector, Sumitomo Metal Industries added 2.3 percent to ¥497, while JFE gained 2.9 percent to ¥4,620. Non-ferrous metals company Mitsui Mining & Smelting was up 4.2 percent to ¥847. Toho Zinc added 3.4 percent to ¥1,149.

In Tokyo on Friday, new broker recommendations on carmakers sent the sector up, helping the markets on the day despite drops in commodities-dependent companies. The Nikkei 225 and the Topix index each added 0.5 percent on the day, to 17,403.96 and 1,756.40 respectively.

Companies that make cellphone components also saw gains on the day after postiive earnings reports from Texas Instruments in the United States and from Nokia in Finland. Kyocera added 3.3 percent to ¥11,500 and Ibiden gained 0.7 percent to ¥5,570.

JP Morgan began coverage of the Japanese automobile manufacturing sector by giving both Toyota and Honda ratings of “overweight”. These recommendations sent shares in Toyota up 2.7 percent to ¥6,900 while Honda gained 4.6 percent to ¥8,120.

Miners were down after Thursday’s drop in commodities prices. Gold producer Sumitomo Metal Mining declined by 3.1 percent to ¥1,698, while Dowa Mining, which has interests in both copper and zinc, dropped 3.4 percent to ¥1,394. Toho Zinc was down 1.8 percent to ¥1,171. Mitsui Mining & Metal, which deals with nonferrous metals, lost 1.6 percent to ¥806.

Tokyo Steel Manufacturing lost 1 percent to ¥2,420 on a report that its net profits were down by 33 percent tin the 2005/2006 fiscal year. It forecast further declines in 2006/2007.

The Tokyo equities markets were down on Tuesday as technology and domestic stocks were down. The Nikkei 225 dropped by 0.2 percent to 17,418.13 and the Topix index was down 0.4 percent to 1,770.18.

The technology sector declined after downgrades from Mizuho Securities. NEC Electronics declined by 2.9 percent to ¥4,620. Chip-testing equipment manufacturer Advantest dropped 2.8 percent to ¥14,580. Toshiba was down by 2.7 percent to ¥727.

The banking sector was down by 0.5 percent as a whole, with Mitsubishi UFJ losing 0.5 percent to ¥1,910,000.

Securities dropped 0.8 percent as a sector, with Japan’s largest securities house, Nomura, losing 1.6 percent to ¥2,720.

The real estate sector, however, was up a bit after earlier losses. Mitsui Fudosan added 0.8 percent to ¥2,650

The biggest gainers on the day were the miners and the oil sector. Among miners, Toho Zinc was up 3 percent to ¥1,220 and Sumitomo Metal Mining added 1.4 percent to ¥1,741. Nippon Mining, which deals both in non-ferrous metals and in petroleum products, gained 7.1 percent to ¥1,097. Among oil companies, Japan Petroleum Exploration was up 3.9 percent to ¥8,180, while Inpex added 2.4 percent to ¥1,260,000.