Japan Sought China, Korea Cooperation in Currency Management

Chandrasekhar Atreya
13 Oct, 2010
New York City

Japanese stocks moved in a narrow range to close little changed. The yen weakens for the first time in five days but stayed near 15-year highs. Used automobiles sales surge in September after the subsidies expired. Japan asks China and South Korea to act in concert to ensure stability of the yen.

[R]5:00 PM Tokyo, Japan – Japanese stocks moved in a narrow range to close little changed. The yen weakens for the first time in five days but stayed near 15-year highs. Sale of used automobiles surges in September after the subsidies expired. Japan asks China and South Korea to act in concert to ensure stability in currency markets.[/R]

Stocks in Japan opened higher and the Nikkei index ran up 0.9%. In the afternoon trading stocks fell as the yen weakened but hovered near the 15-year high. The index closed little changed at the end of the day.

Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.16% or 14.87 to close at 9,403.51. The broader Topix lost 0.2% to 822.65. For every stock that gained, three declined.

The yen weakens for the first time in five days on rising stocks and Asian recovery. The yen closed at 81.88 to the dollar dropping 0.04% in Tokyo.

Japan, South Korea and China must act according to common rules to ensure stability in the currency market, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Wednesday.

“At the G-20 meeting, we have reached a consensus that excessive foreign exchange movements are not desirable. Manipulating your own currency to lower levels is not in line with comprehensive G-20 collaboration,” Kan said at a meeting of the lower house budget committee that morning.

I call for South Korea and China to take sensible, responsible action within shared rules. I think Japan, too, needs to demonstrate such an attitude, Kan said.

OPEC raised its forecast for world oil demand growth ahead of its output meeting and after the cartel’s most influential member, Saudi Arabia expressed satisfaction with current prices.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries raised its demand growth estimate for 2010 from 1.2% to around 1.3% and held steady its forecast for next year, as the cartel that pumps 40% of crude oil prepares to meet on Thursday.

Bank of Japan’s governor Masaaki Shirakawa hinted Wednesday that the central bank may expand its 5 trillion yen program to purchase financial assets if economic and financial conditions worsen.

“If judged necessary in the future, steering monetary policy by making further use of the fund is one of the likely policy options,” Shirakawa said at a parliamentary committee meeting.

Core machinery orders unexpectedly rose 10.1% in August from the previous month, due to growing demand from the manufacturing sector, the Cabinet Office said Wednesday.

Sales of used automobiles rose 9.6% on the year to 362,286 vehicles in September, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Wednesday.

Sales, which exclude mini vehicles, increased for the second month in a row since August, marking the first expansion in 19 months. These sales were boosted by the end of government subsidies for environmentally friendly cars in September, as buyers bought cheaper alternatives.

Asahi Breweries Ltd shipped the most beer and beer-like beverages in the January-September period among Japanese brewers, gaining a 37.2% market share, according to a report five major breweries released Wednesday.

Asahi Breweries regained the top spot for the first time in two years, overtaking Kirin Holdings Co unit Kirin Brewery by 0.2 of a percentage point.

Mercedes Benz Japan Co said Tuesday it began testing the electric version of its Smart compact car on Japanese roads. The two-seater Smart electric vehicle was developed by Daimler AG. Equipped with a lithium-ion battery from U.S. electric vehicle specialist Tesla Motors Inc, the Smart electric car clocks a top speed of 100 km per hour.

The car is designed to run 135 kilometer after an eight-hour charge.

Mori Building Co plans to open a commercial complex next spring in the northwest corner of its Roppongi Hills commercial and residential development. The 4 billion yen Roppongi Hills Crosspoint project will be the first expansion of the Roppongi Hills since it opened in 2003.

The main building will be joined to the main Hill complex by a walkway sometime around July.

Oil consumption by Japan’s 10 regional power utilities in September more than doubled from a year earlier as power output climbed due to heavy use of air-conditioning amid hot weather.

The 10 utilities together used 658,010 kilowatts or about 138,000 barrels a day of crude oil and 768,255 kiloliters of heavy fuel oil in September, the Federation of Electric Power Companies said Wednesday. Electricity generated by the 10 utilities together rose 12% from a year ago to 84.49 billion kilowatt-hours, the federation said.

The average daily lending balance among Japanese banks dipped 1.8% in September to 394.27 trillion yen from a year ago, declining for the 10th month in a row, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday.

Lending by city banks fell 3.9% to 200.38 trillion yen, marking the 11th month of decline in a row.

Global Logistic Properties Ltd will offer shares in Japan ahead of its listing next Monday on the Singapore bourse.

The real estate subsidiary of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp on Tuesday announced plans to publicly offer around 102 million shares in Japan, or slightly more than 5% of what it plans to sell. It expects to generate around 12 billion yen from the sale.