Nikkei rebounds from five-month low as Sony, Toyota advance

TOKYO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rebounded from a five-month low on Thursday, buoyed by video-game makers Sony and Nintendo, after China ramped up its monetary easing measures to shore up a slowing economy by lowering a set of key policy rates.

The Nikkei was up 0.46% at 27,594.29 by the midday break. The benchmark survived a sharp mid-morning dip, which pushed the index to its lowest intraday level since Aug. 23, after China's surprise interest rate cut initially stoked fears of an economic slowdown.

With the property downturn seen persisting into 2022 and fast-spreading Omicron variant dampening consumer activity, many analysts in China expect more easing measures will be necessary, despite other major economies appearing set to tighten their monetary policies.

"The Nikkei has dropped to a level where it looks cheap, tempting investors to come in and buy the dip," said a market participant at a domestic securities firm.

Video-game maker Konami Holdings rallied 5.26% to be the biggest percentage gainer in the Nikkei. Sony added 3.83%, recovering from a nearly 13% slide hit in the previous session. Nintendo rose 2.35%.

Retailers also gained, with department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings jumping 4.49% while Uniqlo store operator Fast Retailing advanced 0.99% to be the Nikkei's biggest gainer by index points.

Among other notable winners were Toyota Motor and SoftBank Group with a gain of 1.15% and 0.87%, respectively.

The broader Topix rose 0.45%. The Topix growth share index jumped 0.65%, outpacing a 0.27% rise in the value index.

Japanese chipmakers, however, tracked their U.S. peers lower, with Tokyo Electron sliding 1.90%, Advantest dropping 1.57% and Renesas Electronics losing 0.58%.

Shippers were the biggest losers, with Kawasaki Kisen tumbling 9.48%, Mitsui OSK Lines shedding 8.70% and Nippon Yusen dropping 5.61, making them the Nikkei's three biggest percentage decliners.

(Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)