Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 9.6% followed by losses in Toyota Motor Corporation of 3.9%, in Nippon Steel Corporation of 3.7%, in Mizuho Financial Group, Inc 3.2% and in Kobe Steel, Ltd 2.3%.

Yahoo Japan Corporation led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 7.8% followed by gains in Pioneer Corporation 6.5%, in Citizen Holdings Co., Ltd of 5.5% and in Oki Electric Industry Company, Limited of 5.2%.

Other Movers

Canon Inc added 1.8% to ¥3,680.00 after the company said Thursday it has made a full self-funded, cash offer to buy all shares of Dutch-based Oce N.V. at a price of €8.60 or $12.06 per share.

Elpida Memory, Inc rose 5.2% to ¥1,759.00 after the chip maker reported third quarter sales rose 144% to ¥151.0 billion from ¥61.8 billion a year ago. Net profit in the quarter was ¥21.1 billion compared to net loss of ¥72.3 billion a year ago.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd declined 7.5% to ¥2,034.00 after the excavator maker announced that it will acquire wheel loader and snow plow equipment business from its wholly owned subsidiary, TCM Corporation., effective April 1.

Honda Motor Corp rose 3.3% to 3,140 yen on the media speculation that the automaker will report operating earnings in the current fiscal year.

Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd advanced 7.1% to ¥1,297.00 after the company announced its consolidated full-year outlook for revenue of ¥325 billion and ¥335 billion and net income for the year ending in March may double that a year ago.

Sony Corporation climbed 4.9% to ¥3,085 on a speculation in Nikkei News that the company may report higher earnings compared to a year ago.

Toyota Motor Corporation dropped 3.9% to ¥3,560.00 after it expanded its recall program and halted sales of eight models in the U.S. and Canada. Toyota added 1.09 million vehicles in the U.S. to its recall program of 4.3 million vehicles to fix the foot pedal sticking under certain conditions.