Asahi Glass, Oracle, TDK, Seven & I: Japanese Equity Movers

All Nippon Airways Co. (9202 JT) gained 23 yen, or 5.1 percent, to 472. Japan's second-largest carrier said it will raise domestic airfares by 4 percent in April to shield earnings from rising jet fuel prices.

Asahi Glass Co. (5201 JT) climbed 72 yen, or 5.2 percent, to 1,471. The glass-products maker was raised to ``strong buy'' from ``buy'' by Nomura Securities.

Aun Consulting Inc. (2459 JT) shares surged 300,000 yen, or 19 percent, to 1.9 million. The provider of search engine marketing services will split its stock 4-for-1 for shareholders of record as of Jan. 31.

Daicel Chemical Industries Ltd. (4202 JT) rose 19 yen, or 2.3 percent, to 837. The chemicals maker was rated ``buy'' in new coverage by Merrill Lynch.

Ebara-Udylite Co. (4975 JT) rose to 9,620, compared with its initial price of 5,600 yen. The maker of plating chemicals for plastic materials debuted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's second section on Thursday, when the shares were untraded on bids.

Kabu.com Securities Co. (8703 JT) soared 50,000 yen, or 17 percent, to 352,000. The online brokerage services company said it obtained two patents of its automated trading system, which enables to set buy/sell orders with conditions and correction terms.

Oracle Corp. Japan (4716 JT) jumped 530 yen, or 10 percent, to 5,850. The software distributor said first-half net income rose to 8.05 billion yen from 7 billion yen a year earlier, with an 8.9 percent gain in sales.

Maxvalu Tokai Co. (8198 JT) climbed 280 yen, or 8.5 percent, to 3,570. The supermarket chain will split its stock 3-for-2 for shareholders of record as of Feb. 28. The company also raised its planned full-year dividend to 28 yen from 25 yen. Its net income fell 33 percent to 1.56 billion yen in the nine months ended Nov. 30.

Mitsubishi Materials Corp. (5711 JT) rose 18 yen, or 3.1 percent, to 598. The copper smelter expects net income to triple to 51 billion yen in the year ending March 31 as higher oil prices boost sales, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said. Sales may rise 9 percent to 1.08 trillion yen, exceeding its earlier target by about 10 billion yen.

Nippon Electric Glass Co. (5214 JT) added 30 yen, or 1.2 percent, to 2,545. The glass related products maker was raised to ``buy'' from ``neutral'' by Nomura Securities.

Niws Co. (2731 JT) rallied 8,000 yen, or 5.5 percent, to 154,000, higher than Thursday's close of 146,000. The computer system integration services company was raised to ``buy 2'' from ``neutral 2'' by UBS.

Nomura Holdings Inc. (8604 JT) rose 65 yen, or 3 percent, to 2,255. Its Nomura Principal Finance unit will probably post an 80 billion yen gain from the sale of its shares in Millennium Retailing to Seven & I Holdings Co. (3382 JT), the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported.

Opt Inc. (2389 JQ) gained 35,000 yen, or 5 percent, to 738,000. The Internet advertising agency will sell as much as 17.5 billion yen in new shares and warrants to Dentsu Inc. (4324 JT) to fund new business operations. Dentsu will eventually hold as much as 16.6 percent of Opt. The two companies will also tie up for Internet marketing. Dentsu slipped 9,000 yen, or 2.3 percent, to 382,000.

Seven & I Holdings Co. (3382 JT) was bid at 4,910 yen, higher than Thursday's close of 4,410. Japan's largest retailer said it will pay 131.1 billion yen for a 65 percent stake in Millennium Retailing Inc., which runs the Seibu and Sogo department stores. Seven & I will buy the stake in Millennium from Nomura Holdings Inc.'s Nomura Principal Finance Co. on Jan. 31, Seven & I said in a joint statement with Millennium. It will also try to acquire the rest of Millennium from other stockholders, the report said. Other shareholders in Millennium include Credit Saison Co. (8253 JT), a consumer credit company. Credit Saison soared 620 yen, or 11 percent, to 6,350.

Shimamura Co. (8227 JT) added 410 yen, or 2.7 percent, to 15,700. The chain store operator's stock price estimate was raised to 18,000 yen from 14,500 yen by UBS, which maintained a ``buy 1'' rating.

TDK Corp. (6762 JT) lost 730 yen, or 8.4 percent, to 7,960. Japan's biggest maker of magnetic heads for hard-disk drives was cut to underweight/positive at Lehman Brothers. UBS, Mizuho Securities Co. and Goldman Sachs also cut TDK's rating. The company may be hurt by Seagate Technology's acquisition of Maxtor Corp., UBS said in a report dated Dec. 21. The shares plunged 1,000 yen, or 10 percent, to 8,690 yen on Dec. 22.