Yen Advances; Stocks in Tokyo Fall

Darlington Musarurwa
13 Apr, 2010
New York City

Japan

[R]5:00 AM New York, 7:00 PM Tokyo – Japan’s corporate goods price index drops 1.3% in March. Japan’s condo offerings rise 54.2% in March. Exporters and automakers declined after the yen gained in international trading.[/R]

Japanese stock indexes fell for the first time in three days after the yen rose and the exporters and auto makers declined.

Losses were limited as the Asian Development Bank announced that the Chinese and Indian economies will rise 9.6% and 8.2% respectively.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.8% or 90.67 to 11,161.23, and the broader Topix Index dropped 0.6% to 988.44.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 12.2 billion shares worth 705 billion yen were traded and in the second section 275 million shares valued at 3.9 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks, 31 advanced, 181 fell, and 13 were unchanged. GS Yuasa Corp. led gainers in the index shares with a rise of 4.8% followed by Isuzu Motors jumping 3.1%.

Tokyo Condo Offerings Rise 54.2% in March

Japan’s Real Estate Economic Institute reported today that the number of new condominiums for sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area jumped 54.2% to 3,685 units in March.

Purchase contracts signed for the sales rose 4.5 percentage points to 3,053.

In the western Kinki region, including Osaka, condos put on the market fell 28.6% to 1,684 units and purchase contracts decreased 0.2 percentage points to 1,088.

The REEI forecasts condo offerings of 3,000 units in April.

Corporate Goods Price Index Drops 1.3%

Bank of Japan reported today that the country’s domestic Corporate Goods Price Index fell 1.3% in March from a fall of 1.6% the previous month, while the Export Price Index decreased 2.2% from a rise of 1.3% a month earlier.

The Import Price Index jumped 0.1% in March.

Nikkei Movers

Nitto Boseki Co Ltd led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 4.5% followed by losses in OKUMA Corporation of 3.9%, in Taiheiyo Cement Corp of 3.7%, in Ntn Corp 3.3% and in Kajima Corp 2.9%.

GS Yuasa Corporation led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 4.8% followed by gains in Isuzu Motors Ltd 3.1%, in Credit Saison Co., Ltd of 2.1% and in JX Holdings Inc 2.0%.

Other Movers

Honda Motor Co., Ltd fell 0.9% to 3,255.00 yen after the carmaker said Tuesday it will begin leasing its new EV-neo electric motorcycle to business customers in Japan from December.

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd fell 1.5% to 373.00 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd the operator of ships to transport iron ore fell 2.6% to 667.00 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc fell 0.7% to 508.00 yen.

Nintendo Co., Ltd the maker of video-game consoles added 0.1% to 31,450.00 yen.

Panasonic Corporation fell 0.4% to 1,407.00 yen and Sony Corporation decreased 0.5% to 3,395.00 yen after the yen rose in international trading.