Machinery, Exporters Led Decliners in Tokyo

Mayank Mehta
16 Apr, 2010
New York City

Stocks in Japan declined after investors worried additional measures to curb home mortgages in China will curtail exports of machinery. Bond yields on Japan five-year and ten-year bonds fell after the auction of 2.4 trillion yen drew the most interest from investors in five years.

[R]7:00 PM Tokyo, Japan – Stocks in Japan declined after investors worried additional measures to curb home mortgages in China will curtail exports of machinery. Bond yields on Japan five-year and ten-year bonds fell after the auction of 2.4 trillion yen drew the most interest from investors in five years.[/R]

In the absence of local news investors focused on China as the nation tightened the lending requirement for the second home after the GDP surged more than 11% for the second month in a row.

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 171.61 or 1.52% to 11,102.18 and of the stocks in Nikkei 225 Stock Average, 23 increased, 196 declined and 6 was unchanged.

For the week The Nikkei index declined 0.9% and the Topix fell 0.1%. Machine tools makers and electronics exporters led the decliners.

The bond yields fell after Japan completed the sale of 2.4 trillion yen bonds yesterday. The yield on 5-year bond declined 1.5 basis points to 0.51% after the auction attracted the most investors demand since the auction in April 2005.

The yield difference between five year and ten-year bonds decreased to 83 basis points from 85 basis points in April.

Nikkei Movers

Nitto Boseki Co Ltd led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 4.6% followed by losses in J Front Retailing Co Ltd of 4.1%, in Clarion Co Ltd of 4.0%, in Shimizu Corp 3.8% and in Fuji Electric Holdings Co., Ltd 3.7%.

Hino Motors Ltd led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 3.6% followed by gains in Nippon Sheet Glass Company, Limited 1.7%, in NTT DoCoMo, Inc of 1.7% and in Hitachi, Ltd 1.6%.

Other Movers

Komatsu Ltd the maker of construction machinery declined 1.2% to 1,918.00 yen.

Mitsui & Co Ltd fell 1.4% to 1,618.00 yen after the trading company purchased a 50.1% interest in industrial-use electric water heater manufacturer, Nihon Itomic Co., through a fully owned investment subsidiary.

Mitsubishi Corporation the trading company dropped 1.7% to 2,430.00 yen.

Sony Corporation decreased 1.7% to 3,350.00 yen an electronics maker said The U.S. International Trade Commission began an investigation into the company’s claims of patent infringement by TPV Technology Ltd.