Japan stocks rebound from post-quake sell-off

Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average and the broader Topix index rebounded on Wednesday after two days of heavy losses spurred by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan and the nuclear safety crisis that followed.

Following are analysts' comments on the stock market's bounce. Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager, Daiwa Securities Capital Markets, Tokyo

"The Nikkei advanced strongly, but it backed off from the highs after we saw TV footage of a large amount of smoke coming from the Fukushima nuclear plant. The latest development clearly undermined prices. "Still, many foreign investors were detected buying back today. The market in general understands that Japanese shares are oversold, but uncertainty over the Fukushima nuclear power plant is clearly making market participants very nervous." Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist, Mitsubishi Ufj Morgan Stanley Securities, Tokyo

"The market doesn't care about any fundamentals today. All eyes are on the nuclear plant and the Nikkei will move according to news about the plant. "The market is still extremely volatile. We can still see big swings of hundreds of yen over a very short period of time. Fujio Ando, senior managing director, Chibagin Asset Management, Tokyo

"The rebound is pretty strong as investors realised they may have panicked a bit too much yesterday. "But it's mostly short covering by both domestic and foreign players, and not honest, active buying, because nuclear worries are still strong. "If we hear anything about the nuclear situation improving, investors will aggressively pile into the Nikkei. There may be one more selloff after that, and then prices will stabilise." Nagayuki Yamagishi, strategist, Mitsubishi Ufj Morgan Stanley Securities, Tokyo

"Prices are rebounding after panic sales. Yesterday's moves are understandable with fears over the nuclear crisis still in place, but at the same time the market understands that shares have been extremely oversold. "We are expected to see more recoveries, but the topside will be limited as there are plenty of sell orders from online-based retail investors on price gains." Tetsuro II, CEO, Commons Asset Management, Tokyo

"Many Japanese companies are between 50 and 100 years old and they have been through many shocks and crises, but in their DNA they have the ability to pick up the pieces and rebuild. "They are competitive in the true meaning of the word. That's why our stance is to invest in such firms, despite what has happened. "Short-term investors find it very difficult to buy now, so this is our role, as long-term players, to buy. "We want to buy, but we need to have more information about the level of damage at different companies, so we will be gathering this information and invest very carefully." Yumi Nishimura, senior market analyst, Daiwa Securities Capital Markets, Tokyo

"Nine thousand was seen as an important support level yesterday and the market has bounced back to around this level for now."