Stocks Wobble in Tokyo; Renown Stake Sale

Mayank Mehta, Chandrasekhar Atreya and Darlington Musarurwa
24 May, 2010
New York City

The stocks in Tokyo traded sideways and closed lower as global economic worries persisted. Cabinet office noted in its monthly report that the economy is steady though not in the self-sustaining mode. China based Shangdong Ruyi Group agreed to acquire 40% stake in in the apparel maker Renown Inc.

[R]5:00 PM Tokyo, Japan – The stocks in Tokyo traded sideways and closed lower as global economic worries persisted. Cabinet office noted in its monthly report that the economy is steady though not in the self-sustaining mode. China based Shangdong Ruyi Group agreed to acquire 40% stake in the apparel maker Renown Inc.[/R]

Japanese stocks fluctuated in the market today and gained marginally after hope that European countries have started to take action to contain the region’s debt crisis.

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 0.27% or 26.14 to 9,758.40 and of the stocks in Nikkei 225 Stock Average, 93 increased, 114 declined and 18 was unchanged.

Shipping lines led the gainers and insurance stocks fell. The rise in Baltic Freight rate index lifted the shippers.

Yen strengthened against the euro, the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

A global economic revival and stimulus measures put in place will continue to support the revival, the Cabinet Office said in its monthly report.

Assessing the economy the government noted today that the economy is picking up steadily without changing its stance.

The economic revival is in large part boosted by overseas demand and stimulus measures which means that we still cannot call it a self-sustained recovery, said Finance Minister Naoto Kan at a briefing on the report.

Shangdong Ruyi Group, a Chinese textile manufacturer confirmed it will acquire a stake in the Japanese company Renown Inc. Shangdong will pay about 4 billion yen for 40% of the company’s stake, the Nikkei newspaper said.

Toray Industries Ltd, the Japanese synthetic fiber maker said in a filing to the Finance Ministry today that the company plans to raise as much as 109.5 billion yen by selling 230 million shares to the public. The proceeds will be used for debt repayment as well as capital investment, the company said.

Nikkei Movers

NKSJ Holdings, Inc led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 4.2% followed by Shinsei Bank, Limited 4.1%, Chiyoda Corp 3.8% and Panasonic Corporation 3.0%.

Fuji Yokogawa Electric Corporation led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 4.7%, followed by Sekisui House, Ltd 4.6%, JX Holdings Inc 4.6% and Electric Holdings Co., Ltd 4.4%.

Other Movers

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd, the shipping line, increased 3.9% to 343.00 yen, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd, the merchant fleet, rose 2.6% to 624.00 yen.

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, the shipping line, rose 0.9% to 327.00 yen.