May 18 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 226.33, or 2.4 percent, to 9,038.69 as of the close in Tokyo. The following were among the most active shares in the Japanese market today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.

Drug and medical companies: Japan’s confirmed swine flu cases ballooned to more than 100 over the weekend, prompting schools to shut and companies to ask workers who show symptoms of the illness to stay at home. Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. (4519 JT), a drugmaker that sells the antiviral drug Tamiflu, advanced 4.6 percent to 1,849 yen. Eiken Chemical Co. (4549 JT), a clinical reagent maker, jumped 9.5 percent to 783 yen. Denki Kagaku Kogyo K.K. (4061 JT), whose subsidiary Denka Seiken Co. (4561 JP) makes flu vaccines, gained 4.7 percent to 267 yen, the highest since Oct. 1.

Mask makers and makers of textile materials used in medical masks also rose. Unitika Ltd. (3103 JT) climbed 18 percent to 109 yen. Toyobo Co. (3101 JT) jumped 7.1 percent to 151 yen. Japan Vilene Co. (3514 JT) rallied 14 percent to 455 yen. Fujibo Holdings Inc. (3104 JT) soared by its daily limit of 30 percent to 129 yen. Shikibo Ltd. (3109 JT) surged by its daily limit of 37 percent to 185 yen. Daiwabo Co. (3107 JT) climbed by its upper limit of 29 percent to 358 yen. Kurabo Industries Ltd. (3106 JT) gained 20 percent to 177 yen.

Air Water Inc. (4088 JT) rose 5 percent to 962 yen. The industrial gas maker projected an 8.8 percent increase in full- year net income to 13.8 billion yen ($145.5 million) for this fiscal year.

Aozora Bank Ltd. (8304 JT) lost 5 percent to 134 yen. The lender controlled by Cerberus Capital Management LP posted a wider-than-forecast full-year loss. The shortfall amounted to 242.6 billion yen, 24 percent wider than its forecast.

Ask Planning Center Inc. (9756 JQ) surged 32 percent to 133 yen, the highest since Oct. 9. The facility designer said a company run by management will offer to buy out Ask Planning for 132 yen per share.

Autobacs Seven Co. (9832 JO) gained 6.8 percent to 3,130 yen, the highest since June 19. The car-parts retailer said it expects a return to net income of 5.7 billion yen this fiscal year, aiming to meet the target by withdrawing from unprofitable operations and cutting costs. Also, the company said it will retire 4.59 percent of its total shares on May 22. The retailer separately said it will spend as much as 5.6 billion yen to repurchase up to 4.27 percent of its outstanding shares through July 31.

Daifuku Co. (6383 JT) tumbled 10 percent to 549 yen, its biggest drop since Oct. 22. The maker of conveyors and material- handling equipment said its net income for the year started April 1 will plunge 75 percent to 2 billion yen on a 30 percent drop in sales. Profit in the year ended March 31 declined 34 percent to 7.85 billion yen, dragged down by weak capital spending and charges to write down the value of securities.

Dai Nippon Printing Co. (7912 JT) added 2.1 percent to 1,146 yen. The printing company expects to return to a profit of 20 billion yen this fiscal year.

Fuji Electric Holdings Co. (6504 JT) slumped 7 percent to 159 yen. The electronic-devices maker posted a net loss of 73.3 billion yen in the year just ended, compared with a 16.8 billion yen profit a year earlier, with a 17 percent drop in sales.

Hiroshima Bank Ltd. (8379 JT) declined 5.7 percent to 364 yen. The lender booked 7.19 billion yen in net income for the year ended March 31, down 67 percent from a year ago. Sales fell 15 percent to 157.6 billion yen.

JBCC Holdings Inc. (9889 JT) advanced 6.5 percent to 590 yen. The domestic distributor of IBM Japan’s hardware and software said it will buy back up to 1.7 percent of its total shares through July 23. JBCC also plans to retire 5.1 percent of its outstanding shares on May 26.

J. Front Retailing Co. (3086 JT) plunged 9.4 percent to 378 yen. The retailer said its sales in April dropped 13 percent.

Kurimoto Ltd. (5602 JT) jumped 10 percent to 97 yen, while Matsuo Bridge Co. (5913 JT) rallied 5.6 percent to 95 yen. The companies and IHI Corp. (7013 JT) agreed to merge their bridge- building operations, the Nikkei newspaper reported today, without saying where it obtained the information. IHI sank 5 percent to 151 yen.

Kyoden Co. (6881 JT) soared 12 percent to 91 yen. The printed circuit board maker said it will repurchase as much as 2.87 percent of its outstanding shares through Sept. 18.

Leopalace21 Corp. (8848 JT) slumped 6.7 percent to 741 yen. The real estate company said it expects net income to fall 13 percent to 8.7 billion yen this fiscal year, with a 4.4 percent slip in sales.

Marui Group Co. (8252 JT) fell 4.1 percent to 534 yen. The department store chain and consumer lender posted an 8.75 billion yen loss in the year just ended, reversing from a 7.6 billion yen profit a year earlier, with a 9.3 percent fall in sales.

Mediceo Paltac Holdings Co. (7459 JT) gained 6.6 percent to 1,104 yen. Japan’s largest drug wholesaler expects a 28 percent rise in operating profit to 17.2 billion yen with sales rising by 3.5 percent. The company also said it will buy back up to 2.04 percent of its total shares through Sept. 15.

Misumi Group Inc. (9962 JT) slid 4.2 percent to 1,293 yen. The mail-order distributor of precision-machinery parts forecast its net income for this fiscal year will decrease by more than half to 2.2 billion yen. Profit in the year ended March 31 slumped 52 percent to 4.69 billion yen, missing its outlook by 12 percent.

Mitsumi Electric Co. (6767 JT) fell 4.1 percent to 1,540 yen. The electronic-component maker forecast it will have a 37 percent drop in net income to 7 billion yen this fiscal year. Profit in the year ended March 31 more than halved to 11.2 billion yen.

Nippon Soda Co. (4041 JT) advanced 5.9 percent to 361 yen. The chemical-products maker had a 31 percent increase in full- year profit to 6.75 billion yen, buoyed by favorable earnings at its equity method affiliates.

Panasonic Corp. (6752 JT) tumbled 7.6 percent to 1,344 yen. The world’s largest maker of plasma televisions forecast a second annual loss as the global slump drives down demand for consumer electronics. The company slashed its full-year dividend by two-thirds and forecast its lowest annual revenue in 14 years.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (8316 JT) fell 4.1 percent to 3,760 yen. Japan’s second-largest bank by market value posted its biggest loss in six years. The bank booked a 373.5 billion yen loss in the year ended March 31, compared with a profit of 461.5 billion yen a year earlier, it said in a statement.

Sundrug Co. (9989 JT) climbed 8.4 percent to 1,787 yen. The drugstore chain forecast net income for the year started April 1 will increase 4.3 percent to 9.3 billion yen. The company posted a 16 percent gain in full-year profit in the year ended March 31.

Toyo Suisan Kaisha Ltd. (2875 JT) rose 4.6 percent to 2,170 yen. The seafood company will buy the rest of Fukushima Foods Co. (2921 JT), paying 0.7 share for each Fukushima share, the companies said in a joint press release. Fukushima Foods added 1.3 percent to 1,469 yen.

Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc. (8418 JT) advanced 5.4 percent to 971 yen. The lender said it expects its net income for this fiscal year to jump to 30 billion yen from 13.8 billion yen.

Yokogawa Bridge Holdings Corp. (5911 JT) retreated 8.8 percent to 795 yen, falling the most since Oct. 27. The builder projected its full-year operating profit will decline 22 percent to 2 billion yen.

Yokogawa Electric Corp. (6841 JT) plummeted 15 percent to 446 yen, the sharpest slide since Oct. 24. The world’s biggest maker of electronic measuring tools expects an operating loss of 9 billion yen this fiscal year, with sales falling by 16 percent. The company forecast net loss will narrow to 18 billion yen this year from 38.4 billion yen in the year just ended.

Yumeshin Holdings Co. (2362 JX) added 3.1 percent to 67 yen. The engineering company said it will buy back as much as 9.65 percent of its outstanding shares for the year through May 17, 2010.

Zeon Corp. (4205 JT) rose 2.7 percent to 341 yen. The maker of synthetic rubber forecast it will have 1 billion yen in net income this fiscal year, beating the median estimate of 4.15 billion yen in net loss by four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporters on this story: Akiko Ikeda in Tokyo at iakiko@bloomberg.net; Norie Kuboyama in Tokyo at nkuboyama@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 18, 2009 03:14 EDT