Nikkei Down Slightly on Profit-taking but Sanyo Gains 19%, Sony's Shares Eyed by Saudi Prince, TDK Hurt by Seagate-Maxtor, ADRs to Watch (SANYY, SNE, TMIC, PIO, NIPNY, TDK)

Late rallies by shares in both the Nikkei 225 Stock Average and TOPIX limited losses in the former and resulted in a tiny gain in the latter. The big news today was Sanyo's (SANYY) 19% rise after it said it will raise 300 billion yen (US$2.6 billion) by selling stock. Sony's (SNE) shares were up over 5% led by the news that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the richest men in the world, is considering buying shares. TDK (TDK) fell over 10% on the day following Seagate's (STX) plans to buy Maxtor (MXO). Smaller rival Alps Electric Co lost over 12%. Both of these firms are concerned about future orders from Maxtor.

Nikkei 225: -16.20 (-0.10%) closed at 15,941.37, opened 18+ points higher than prior close of 15,957.57, intra-day high of 15,991.30, low of 15,759.73

TOPIX: +1.51 (+0.09%) closed at 1,637.89, opened a few points higher than prior close of 1,636.38, intra-day high of 1,641.88, low of 1,623.92

JASDAQ: +1.01 (+0.83%) closed at 122.38, traded between 121.34 and 122.38

Yen: last posted rate Y117.10/US$1

Today’s ADRs to watch based on earlier trading of underlying shares in Tokyo:

* Advancers: Sanyo Electric (SANYY) +19.08%, Sony (SNE) +5.23%, Trend Micro (TMIC) +4.63%, Pioneer (PIO) +3.30%, NEC (NIPNY) +3.21%

* Decliners: TDK (TDK) -10.32%, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU) -1.20%