Nikkei Falls after 4-Day Rally; Reserves Rise

Chandrasekhar Atreya
07 Sep, 2010
New York City

Stocks in Japan declined after rising for four days in a row as Bank of Japan left its key lending rate at 0.1%.The rates are on hold since December 2008. Foreign exchange reserves rise in August to $1.07 trillion, third month of increase and to the second highest on record.

[R]5:00 PM Tokyo, Japan – Stocks in Japan declined after rising for four days in a row as Bank of Japan left its key lending rate at 0.1%.The rates are on hold since December 2008. Foreign exchange reserves rise in August to $1.07 trillion, third month of increase and to the second highest on record.[/R]

Tokyo stocks traded lower Tuesday dented by profit booking after four straight days of large gains and the yen stay firm at elevated levels.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 0.81% or 75.32 to close at 9,226.00 in Tokyo. The broader Topix also fell 0.5% to 834.92.

Of the 225 stocks in the Nikkei 165 declined, 36 gained while 24 stayed unchanged.

The Bank of Japan held its monetary policy steady Tuesday, but reaffirmed governor Masaaki Shirakawa’s pledge to take action if necessary.

The Bank of Japan’s board voted unanimously at the end of the two-day meeting to keep the bank’s unsecured overnight call loan rate at 0.1%, the level it has been at since December 2008.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves totaled $1.07 trillion at the end of August, up by $6.63 billion from a month earlier, marking it the third straight month of increases and the country’s second highest reserves on record, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.

Companies from India, Brazil and other emerging market countries owned stakes in 120 Japanese firms in August, according to data released Monday by Teikoku Databank Ltd.

The ranks of Japanese companies with stakes held by emerging market firms, including Russia, South Africa and Turkey, but not China, were up 46.3% from five years earlier. Wholly owned units set up to serve local branches in Japan accounted for the bulk of the investments.

India led the way with stakes in 38 firms with companies from Thailand and Malaysia holding stakes in 27 and 22 businesses respectively.

Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima said Tuesday the government is considering alternate methods for promoting environmentally friendly car purchases after its subsidy program for this initiative ends in a day or two.

At a news conference after a cabinet meeting, the minister said additional stimulus measures will boost corporate capital investment to build a low-carbon society, which will eventually help green cars prevail.

Softbank Mobile Corp said Tuesday it acquired 288,900 net new subscribers in August, leading the industry for the fifth month in a row. The net growth marked a record monthly increase, excluding the month of March, the busiest sales time of the year.

NTT DoCoMo Inc added 125,500 net new subscribers, the second largest in the industry.

A Nippon Yusen KK subsidiary said it signed an agreement to transport liquefied natural gas plants to the Gorgon project in northwest Australia.

NYK-Hinode Line Ltd signed a long-term shipping contract with a joint venture funded in part by JGC Corp which along with U.S. plant manufacturer KBR Inc has subcontracted plant procurement and management for the Gorgon project. NYK will transport LNG plants manufactured in South Korea, China and Southeast Asia to the site in Australia.

The Democratic Party of Japan is expected to elect its new leader by the late afternoon on September 14, party officials said Monday. The attention is focused on whether the ruling party will retain its current leader and Prime Minister Naoto Kan or opt for party heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation plans to offer $2.5 billion in loans this year for water supply and clean energy projects outside Japan to help domestic companies market their environmental technologies.

The lender said it will seek to ally with local commercial banks to provide syndicated loans totaling about $5 billion for such projects in the year through March 2011, Takashi Hongo, head of the bank’s environment finance engineering section said Monday.