Japan Hot Stocks- Seven & i falls, cuts forecast

TOKYO, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The benchmark Nikkei average

rose 0.5 percent and the broader TOPIX was 0.3 percent higher on Friday. The following stock was on the move:

**SEVEN & I DROPS AS WEAKER SUPERMARKET SALES HURT**

Seven & i Holdings Co Ltd fell 3 percent to a two-week low at 2,303 yen as weaker sales at its supermarkets offset growth from its convenience stores.

The operator of 7-Eleven, Japan's biggest convenience store chain, said its operating profit for the June-August quarter fell 2.5 percent to 79.9 billion yen as sales failed to match last year's post-quake boom.

It also cut its operating profit forecast for the year to February 2013 to 308 billion yen from a previous estimate of 315 billion yen, and below an average estimate of 310.0 billion yen in a Reuters poll.

0022 GMT ($1 = 78.4500 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Sophie Knight; Editing by Joseph Radford)

((sophie.knight@thomsonreuters.com)(+81 3 6441 1833)(Reuters Messaging: sophie.knight.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: MARKETS JAPAN STOCKS HOT/