Nikkei Index in Tokyo Drops 1.9%

Mayank Mehta, Chandrasekhar Atreya and Sanjay Barot
23 Jun, 2010
New York City

Stocks declined in Japan after a report showed sale of existing homes dropped in May. Toyota and Honda halt production after strike extends to other parts facilities in China. Google takes over as favorite job destination for Japanese job seekers. Toyota stays put on price cut.

[R]5:00 PM Tokyo, Japan – Stocks declined in Japan after a report showed sale of existing homes dropped in May. Toyota and Honda halt production after strike extends to other parts facilities in China. Google takes over as favorite job destination for Japanese job seekers. Toyota stays put on price cut.[/R]

Decline in Japanese stocks continued for the second day after a government report showed that home sales unexpectedly dropped in the U.S. in May. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes in U.S. fell 2.2% in May.

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 189.19 or 1.87% to 9,923.70 and of the stocks in Nikkei 225 Stock Average, 7 increased, 215 declined and 3 was unchanged. The broader Topix lost 1.5% to close at 880.84 with almost eight stocks declining for each advancing.

Both Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co suspended production at their factories in southern China after two of their parts factories were affected by walkouts. With this the number of such walkouts in this part of China now stands at about eight in the past month.

Honda shut down one of its two plants in Guangzhou after a walkout in NHK Spring Co, said Natsuno Asanuma, a Tokyo-based spokeswoman at Honda. Toyota also closed its factory at Guangdong province after a strike at Denso Corp affected supply to this plant, said Hitoshi Yokoyama, a Beijing-based spokesman for the company.

Aderans Holdings Ltd, Japan’s largest wigmaker aims to have 300 branded stores by 2013, as part of its turnaround effort to profit from its third straight loss this year.

“The company aims to achieve a six fold increase in the number of stores from its current 50 through a television ad campaign featuring actress and former Miss Universe contestant Hisako Manda that helped increase customers 20% last year,” said CEO Tadao Utsuki in an Interview on June 18.

Google Inc was found to be the most favored job destination for people seeking to change jobs this year, according to an on-line survey by recruitment services company, Intelligence Ltd.

In a survey of 5,000 people, Google was rated as the destination providing the most challenging and technical working environment, while Toyota was voted as the most secure work place.

Nikkei Movers

Clarion Co Ltd led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 2.0% followed by Oji Paper Co Ltd 2.0%, Mizuho Financial Group, Inc 0.6% and The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated 0.3% and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation 0.2%.

NTT Data Corp led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 8.3% followed by Mitsumi Electric Co Ltd 4.1%, Teijin Ltd 4.1%, Fujikura Ltd 3.8% and The Japan Steel Works Ltd 3.8%.

Other Movers

Aderans Holdings Company Limited, the wigmaker, rose 0.8% to 1,121.00 yen.

INPEX Holdings Inc, the oil and gas explorer dropped 2.9% to 534,000.00 yen and Mitsubishi Corporation, the trading company, fell 1.5% to 1,990.00 yen.

Mitsui Mining and Smelting Company, Limited dropped 2.5% to 264.00 yen after the company said it lowered its zinc selling price by 10,000 yen to 200,000 yen a metric ton.

Toyota Motor Corporation fell 1.6% to 3,220.00 yen after the carmaker plans to cut its car prices by 30% by 2013, to better compete against rivals such as Hyundai.