Japan's Nikkei falls in thin holiday trading, Honda soars

Japan's Nikkei share average fell on Tuesday, giving back some of the previous session's gains, with trading largely lacking direction in a holiday-thinned week.

Honda 7267 stood out with a more than 13% surge that dwarfed moves elsewhere on the benchmark index, after announcing a share buyback following market close on Monday, when it also revealed talks to merge with Nissan 7201. The deal had been reported by Reuters and other media prior to the announcement .

The Nikkei NI225 fell 0.27% to end the morning session at 39,055.35, following a 1.2% rise on Monday, its first advance since Dec. 12.

The broader Topix TOPIX was flat.

Honda was by far the best performing stock on the Nikkei, jumping 13.55%. Nissan endured volatile trading, slumping as much as 7.33% before rebounding to be slightly positive, and then ending the morning session down 0.11%.

Nissan-partner Mitsubishi Motors 7211 said it was also considering joining the alliance. Its shares rose 2.77%.

Automakers in general got a boost from a weakening yen, which boosts the value of overseas sales.

Overall though, Japanese stocks were mixed, with 106 of the Nikkei's 225 components rising versus 115 that fell, with four flat.

"Amid a lack of market drivers, trading is going to be largely directionless," said Maki Sawada, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.

"Like yesterday, trading is likely to be thin, with market participants conscious of the Christmas holidays."

Japanese markets are open all week, unlike in many parts of Asia, Europe and the Americas. The final trading day of 2024 is Dec. 30.