Japan shares rise; Asahi Glass among advancers

Japanese shares edged higher Friday morning in Tokyo, finding strength from a rise for the Dow industrials, with Asahi Glass Co. /quotes/comstock/!5201 (JP:5201 996.00, -23.00, -2.26%) /quotes/comstock/11i!asglf (ASGLF 11.01, -0.26, -2.30%) among the bigger advancers, but with shares of Nikon Corp. /quotes/comstock/!7731 (JP:7731 2,094, -91.00, -4.16%) /quotes/comstock/11i!ninof (NINOF 23.10, -23.10, -50.00%) heading lower. The Nikkei 225 Average was up 0.4% at 10,786.55, and the broader Topix climbed 0.4% to 944.47. Shares of Asahi Glass were up 2.5% after Macquarie analysts said the company's LCD sales were set to gain and raised their target price on the stock. The glass maker is also among five firms set to work with Keio University on next-generation fiber-optic technologies, according to the Nikkei. Shares of Nikon were among the few decliners, down 2.8% after Goldman Sachs cut the rating on the stock to neutral, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.5% while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was nearly flat.