Nikkei climbs as exporters gain, but rises limited (at Reuters)

TOKYO, July 23 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average climbed 1.3 percent on Wednesday as Canon Inc (7751.T: ) and fellow exporters powered higher after a steep fall in oil prices sent the dollar up against the yen. Oil's tumble to a six-week low hit trading firms and energy-linked shares, with oil and gas field developer Inpex Holdings Inc (1605.T: ) becoming one of the top drags on the Nikkei along with chip-equipment makers. Banks surged on relief after a string of U.S. banks reported better-than-expected earnings. "There's definitely a sense that the market has survived a lot of potential problems, now that the U.S. bank earnings are behind it, and this buoyed financials both on Wall Street and now in Tokyo," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Shinko Securities. "But now Japanese results lie ahead, along... [read full story]