The Nikkei average rose 1.1 per cent on Wednesday, with banking stocks among the biggest gainers after the US Federal Reserve slashed borrowing costs to a record low, prompting a rally on Wall Street.But Honda Motor tumbled more than 4 per cent on expectations that it will likely issue its third profit warning of the year on Wednesday, after abruptly moving up its year-end news conference by two days."The Fed's stance that it's willing to take bold steps and do everything in its power to deal with the situation helped boost the market," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC."But gains are somewhat tame because of a stronger yen and because investors want to see how the US market will fare from now on. There's also a sense of fear about the auto industry as their earnings prospects haven't improved at all due to a firm yen."The benchmark Nikkei .N225 added 91.14 points to 8,659.16, after rising over 2 per cent earlier. It fell 1.1 per cent the previous day.
