国际英语新闻：Tokyo stocks end mixed in directionless trade, strong yen weighs

However Japanese firms who already posted upbeat earnings results and forecasts advanced with Kao Corp. adding 1.1 percent to 2,111 yen after the home products maker posted earnings for the April-June quarter showing operating profit up 34.6 percent from the same quarter last year, citing sales growth in Asia for its consumer products and chemicals divisions.

Seiko Epson leapt 4.4 percent to 1,156 yen after the Nikkei business daily said it will likely post an operating profit of 2 billion yen (23 million U.S. dollars) for the April-June quarter compared to a loss of 12.4 billion yen (142.56 million U.S. dollars) for the same quarter last year, going into the black for the first time in two years.

Nippon Sharyo Ltd. surged 9.5 percent to 393 yen, the most since Dec. 11. Japan's biggest maker of high-speed trains said net income for the quarter ended June 30 was 855 million yen (632. 33 million U.S. dollars), 51 percent more than a year earlier.

Canon Marketing Japan Inc. however was a notable decliner on today's market tumbling 6.1 percent to 1,226 yen, its biggest decline since June 2009. The company, which distributes all of Canon Inc.'s products, announced its half-year operating profit was 2.87 billion yen (32.99 million U.S. dollars) for the period ended June 30, compared with 3.66 billion yen (42.07 million U.S. dollars) a year earlier.

Canon fell 0.4 percent to close the day at 3,515 yen.

Some 1.74 billion shares changed hands on the Tokyo exchange's First section, up from Monday's volume of around 1.30 billion, with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones by 862 to 643.