The Tokyo equities markets saw very little movement on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 was lower, but only by 0.1 percent to 17,408.57, while the Topix index held steady at 1,730.76.

Steelmakers were higher on the session, protecting the markets from losses in other sectors. Tokyo Steel Manufacturing added 3.2 percent to ¥1,755 an the announcement that it will increase the prices it charges for its products. Nippon Steel gained 4.3 percent to ¥695, its highest share price in 16 years, helped by an earlier hike it its target share price, from ¥600 to ¥760, by UBS. The broker said that the target was raised due to increased demand for high-grade steel.

The construction sector saw declines as a bids-rigging scandal continued to unfold with searches of the offices of several companies. Obayashi dropped 2.3 percent to ¥733, while Shimizu fell 3.2 percent to ¥612 and Kajima was 3.7 percent lower to ¥544.

Banks and the real estate sector both were lower as investors took profits. The banking sector dropped 0.4 percent, with Mitsubishi UFJ falling 1.3 percent to ¥1,530,000. Meanwhile, the real estate sector was 1.1 percent lower with Mitsubishi Estate down 0.9 percent to ¥3,360 and Mitsui Fudosan 1.3 percent lower to ¥3,080.

Equities markets in Tokyo were slightly lower on Monday on declines in the securities and steel sectors. Semiconductors were down as well, while electronics were mixed and paper and pulp saw increases during the day. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.2 percent to 14,794.5, while the Topix index was down 0.1 percent to 1,514.22.

The steel sector was especially hard hit. Japan Steel Works fell just 0.2 percent to ¥656, while Kobe Steel dropped 3 percent to ¥326 and JFE was down by 4.6 percent to ¥4,380. Tokyo Steel, hurt by a quarterly report that showed earnings down 42.6 percent in the quarter, declined by 17.1 percent to ¥1,945.

The semiconductor sector was hurt by a profit warning from computer maker Dell. Advantest fell 1.4 percent to ¥10,930, while Tokyo Electron dropped 3.8 percent to ¥7,120.

Among electronics companies, Sony was down 0.6 percent to ¥4,810 and NEC fell by 2.1 percent to ¥566. On the other hand, Matsushita Electric Industrial gained 2.7 percent to ¥2,245, while Sharp was up 4.4 percent to ¥1,836.

The securities sector saw losses after Goldman Sachs issued a reduced forecast for the sector as a whole in the wake of first-quarter earnings reports from the four largest brokerages in Japan. Nomura fell 0.3 percent to ¥2,015, while Mitsubishi UFJ Securities was down 1.5 percent to ¥1,273 and Daiwa Securities was 2.7 percent lower to ¥1,226.

Prospects for consolidation sent the paper and pulp sector higher after Oji Paper made an unsolicited offer for Hokuetsu Paper Mills. Hokuetsu, in an effort to fend off the bid, offered to sell 50 million new shares to Mitsubishi Paper Mills. The news sent Oji Paper 2.3 percent higher to ¥656, while Mitsubishi Paper Mills was up 9.8 percent to ¥224 and Hokuetsu added 15.8 percent to ¥735.

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 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.