Japanese stocks halted their decline on Wednesday on positive data from the US house market. US home prices rose more than forecast in June. However, recent Japan's growth outlook downgrade continued to cap the upward movement of the equities. The Nikkei 225 Index added 0.40% to close at 9,069.81. Seven out of ten sectors within the index surged. Technology and oil and gas companies were the main drivers for the Nikkei 225 increase. NEC soared 6.54% after Hon Hai Precision Industry agreed to purchase some of the NEC patents. Advantest followed NEC, rising by 4.90%. Meanwhile, Sharp was the top-performer, soaring 6.98% after offering buyouts to 2,000 of its staff as part of job-cutting plan. Bridgestone also rose by 0.97% on upbeat US data. Sending Nikkei lower, Daikin Industries plunged 3.54% after the firm announced that it would buy US competitor Goodman Global for USD3.8 billion. Adding pressure on the Japanese stocks, health care industry declined by 0.91%, with Eisai sinking 2.30%.