Earnings Revisions Lift Tokyo Sentiment

Chandrasekhar Atreya
27 Apr, 2010
New York City

Better than expected earnings contributed to positive sentiment in Tokyo trading. Sharp Corp and Mazda Motor Corp lifted annual outlooks. Nippon Yusen, Mitsui OSK and Kawasaki Kaisen estimated higher profits on improved freight rates.

[R]8:00 PM Tokyo, Japan –Better than expected earnings contributed to positive sentiment in Tokyo trading. Sharp Corp and Mazda Motor Corp lifted annual outlooks. Nippon Yusen, Mitsui OSK and Kawasaki Kaisen estimated higher profits on improved freight rates.[/R]

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose for the second day led by positive earnings reported by Fanuc Ltd, IHI Corporation and Konica Minolta Holdings Ltd.

Nippon Yusen K.K and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd lifted its profit forecast for the current with a rise in freight rates. Mitsui O.S.K Lines estimated its annual profit to rise more than four-fold to 60 billion yen on demand for shipments of raw materials and finished goods.

Sharp Corp, Japan’s largest LCD maker said in a report today that it expects profits to rise more than 11 times this year ending March 2011 as sales of 3-D panels climb. Net income is expected to jump to 50 million yen.

Mazda Motor Corp estimated 5 billion yen profit in the current year on a global economic recovery, the company said in statement today compared to losses in the year ago.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average in Tokyo closed higher 28.26 or 0.25% to 11,194.05 and of the stocks in the index, 77 increased, 138 declined and 10 closed unchanged.

Nikkei Movers

Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 3.6% followed by Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd 3.6%, Daiwa Securities Group Inc 2.9%, SKY Perfect JSAT Holdings Inc 2.5% and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd 2.5%.

IHI Corporation led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 9.3% followed by Fanuc Ltd 8.6%, Konica Minolta Holdings Inc 7.2% and Nippon Sheet Glass Company, Limited 6.1%.

Other Movers

Elpida Memory, Inc the maker of computer memory dropped 1.7% to 2,035.00 yen.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd gained 5.7% to 536.00 yen after the maker of Subaru cars said that it has raised its estimate of consolidated operating profit to 27 billion yen for the year ended March, up from 14 billion yen forecast in February, due to strong car sales in overseas markets and cost reduction efforts.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd the maker of excavators fell 3.5% to 2,061.00 yen.

INPEX Holdings Inc the oil explorer fell 1.7% to 687,000.00 yen.

Mitsubishi Corporation fell 0.5% to 2,298.00 yen after the commodities trader said that it will take roughly a 20% stake in leading rice wholesaler Shinmei Corp. by the end of this month.

Mitsui Co Ltd fell 2.0% to 1,474.00 yen after the trading company said that it has increased its stake in TPV Technology Ltd a manufacturer of computer monitors and flat-panel TVs in China, to 15.05% according to media reports in Japan and China.