Japanese stocks edged up on Monday in choppy trade as weaker-than-expected US jobs data spurred hopes that the US interest rates will stay low, while Rakuten Inc tumbled on news of a deal to buy a US rebate site operator.
Index heavy-weight SoftBank Corp, which has a stake of more than 30 per cent in Alibaba, rose 2.1 per cent and contributed a hefty 18.87 points to the Nikkei index on news that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd expects to price its initial public offering between $60 and $66 a share.
The Nikkei closed up 0.2 per cent at 15,705.11, not too far from its seven-month high of 15,829.38 hit last week.
The broader Topix rose 0.4 per cent to 1,298.64, with only 1.78 billion shares changing hands, the lowest since September 1. The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 gained 0.4 per cent to 11,778.63.
Rakuten Inc dropped 4.2 per cent after the Nikkei newspaper reported the Japanese online retailer is finalising a deal to buy US rebate site operator Ebates for more than ¥100 billion ($951 million). Rakuten's move to tap into overseas markets is seen as a positive, fund managers said, but some remain cautious about its aggressive investment strategy.