2014.03.2405:25:14UTC+00Nikkei emerge from 6-week low, economic uncertainty logs advances

Japan's Nikkei share average spiked up on Monday trading action, emerging from a six-week low on the back of a tentative recovery in risk appetite, though concerns about the Japanese economic view kept advances in check. The benchmark Nikkei average rallied 1.8 percent to 14,484.06 by the midday break, after a market holiday on Friday. It was still under its 200-day moving average in almost 14,505. The advances were in line with hike in global shares due to easing concerns over the Ukraine crisis, as investors see disappearing probabilities of a major military confrontation between Moscow and the West. Still, the Nikkei held not far from a six-week low in almost 14,200 hit last week and was down 11 percent since the opening of this year, likely heading for its first quarterly pullback in 1-1/2 years. "Although the first spring storm of the year hit Tokyo area last week, spring has yet to come for the Japanese stock markets," said Masatoshi Kikuchi, pan-Asian chief equity strategist at Mizuho Securities. "It'll be difficult for the Nikkei to rise to 16,000 by the fiscal year-end but I still expect the benchmark will reach 16,500 yen by the end of June, buoyed by the prime minister's growth strategy due in June and solid corporate earnings," he added. One reason behind Tokyo shares' sagged down was concerns about the effect of a planned sales tax increase on April 1, said Stefan Worrall, director of equity cash sales at Credit Suisse in Tokyo. "Market participants need to recalibrate, particularly when there is a such intense uncertainty over the direction of the Japanese market towards the end of fiscal year (on March 31)." "There's a big focus on if the BOJ is willing or ready to undertake further monetary policy actions...a lot of clients continue to expect or hope that it occurs." Stocks giving high dividends or other shareholder advantages enjoyed a decent recovery before the dividend record date on Wednesday, with Eisai Co Ltd, ANA Holdings Inc. and Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd up between 3.2 and 4.4 percent. Tokyo Electron, a manufacturer of chip-making machines, soared 5.4 percent, aided by hiking optimism for the semiconductor industry following news of stable capital spending plans by makers of computer chips. Other notable advancers include Yamato Holdings, which boosted 3.5 percent after the Nikkei newspaper reported that the delivery firm will tie up with China Post to launch a delivery service in China.   The market took soft Chinese manufacturing data in its stride for now. The flash Markit/HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) retreated to an eight-month low of 48.1 in March from February's final reading of 48.5 as output and new orders both weakened. The broader Topix marched higher 2 percent to 1,169.32, with exchanging volume at 55 percent of full daily average for the past 90 days. The JPX-Nikkei Index 400, a recently introduced gauge comprised of firms with a high return on equity and robust corporate governance, increased 1.9 percent to 10,586.35.