TOKYO, March 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei index eked out a gain in the morning session on Tuesday, buoyed by strong economic data from neighbour and key trade partner China.
Markets swung between small gains and losses as investors weighed risks such as rapid spread of COVID-19 in China, the continuing conflict in Ukraine and a potentially aggressive monetary policy tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve later this week.
The Nikkei share average added 0.31% to 25,385.11 as of the midday break, after starting the session down about 0.35% and then rising as much as 0.46%. The index always kept solidly above the psychological 25,000-mark.
About three times as many shares rose as fell on the Nikkei. Every subsector advanced except energy, which was weighed down by a sharp retreat in crude oil prices. Consumer non-cyclicals fared best, followed by utilities and financials, which saw their profit outlooks improved by firmer long-term bond yields.
The broader Topix rallied 0.88% to 1,828.26.
Data on Tuesday showed strong gains in Chinese industrial production and retail sales for February, lifting the Nikkei towards the midday close.
On Monday, the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin, which is scrambling to rein in the fast spread of the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant of the coronavirus, imposed a rare travel ban on its population.
"With the coronavirus spreading quickly in China, investors are worried about what the effect will be on the economy," said a trader at a Japanese securities firm.
"That's going to be a focus until we have more clarity on the outlook."
Automakers stood out, with Nissan's 5.55% jump making it the Nikkei's best performer, followed by Subaru , which rallied 4.79%. Toyota gained 2.51%
Rounding out the Nikkei's top 3 was Nippon Sheet Glass , which gained 4.35%.
Chipmakers were firm, with Tokyo Electron up 0.65% and Advantest advancing 1.2%.
At the other end, Pacific Metals was by far the worst performer, plunging 16.4%.
Uniqlo store operator Fast Retailing was the biggest drag by index points, sliding 4.3%, followed by startup investor SoftBank Group, which shed 3.98%. (Reporting by Tokyo markets team; editing by Uttaresh.V)
