Japanese shares edge higher a day after sharp sell-off; Toshiba peers gain

TOKYO, April 7 (Reuters) - Japanese shares ticked higher on Wednesday after posting their biggest drop in nearly two weeks in the previous session, while electronics makers advanced following news that Toshiba Corp had received a proposal to go private in a $20 billion deal.

The benchmark Nikkei share average .N225 climbed 0.01% to 29,694.37 by 0212 GMT, while the broader Topix .TOPX rose 0.29% to 1,960.02. On Tuesday, the Nikkei and Topix had closed 1.3% and 1.5% lower, respectively.

"Investors are buying stocks after yesterday's sharp decline. This is a natural move," said Hideyuki Suzuki, general manager at investment research for SBI Securities.

"The news on Toshiba has sent electronics makers higher. Investors could be thinking that if the Toshiba gets delisted, they would have to shift the money to its peers."

Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is proposing taking Toshiba 6502.T private in a deal worth about $20 billion, Reuters reported citing a person familiar with the matter, as the tech giant faces pressure from activist shareholders to improve its governance. shares were untraded with a glut of buy orders at their daily-limit high. They were set to close the day 18.3% higher.

Fujitsu 6702.T jumped 2.43%, Hitachi 6501.T gained 1.24% and Sharp 6753.T edged up 0.27%.

Shipping firm Nippon Yusen 9101.T rose 1.3% after raising its profit forecast for the year ended March to 200 billion yen ($1.82 billion) from 160 billion yen. peers Kawasaki Kisen 9107.T advanced 1.83% and Mitsui OSK Lines 9104.T climbed 1%.

Other cyclical shares also gained after the International Monetary Fund raised its global growth forecast to 6% this year, a rate not seen since the 1970s, from 5.5% earlier. Topix sub-index for materials .IMELT.T .ISTEL.T gained the most among the 33 sub-indexes.

($1 = 109.6200 yen)