Japan

Chandrasekhar Atreya
07 Dec, 2010
New York City

Tokyo stocks lost as the yen rose to a three-week high. Otsuka Holdings, the largest healthcare offering since 2006 priced near the bottom of its filing price range. Foreign Exchange reserves declined for the first time in six months to $1.101 trillion.

[R]5:00 PM Tokyo, Japan – Tokyo stocks lost as the yen rose to a three-week high. Otsuka Holdings, the largest healthcare offering since 2006 priced near the bottom of its filing price range. Foreign Exchange reserves declined for the first time in six months to $1.101 trillion.[/R]

Tokyo stocks fell after the yen firmness weighed on exporters while stocks in general moved in narrow ranges. In commodities markets, gold closed at a new high of $1,416 an ounce and silver closed up to three-decade higher.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 0.26% or 26.13 to close at 10,141.10. The broader Topix fell 0.3% to 879.10.

The yen rose to a three-week high against the dollar on Tuesday dragging the Tokyo stocks lower, while the euro came under renewed pressure as finance ministers in the region negotiate to contain its debt crisis.

The yen closed at 82.645 yen to a dollar in Tokyo today.

Advantest Corp, the Japanese chip equipment maker, said Tuesday it offered nearly $730 million to acquire Singapore-based Verigy Ltd, the semiconductor-tester, which is also listed in the U.S.

The Japanese firm offered $12.15 per share of Verigy, at 33% premium to its Friday close on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Economic growth in Asia may slow next year but will still be robust, according to Asian Development Bank. The bank called for greater regional cooperation on foreign exchange policies to deal with surging capital flows and avoid a potential currency war.

“With the V-shaped recovery in hand, many emerging East Asian economies now face the challenge of managing strong growth and capital flows amid a weaker external environment,” the ADB said in its semiannual Asia Economic Monitor.

Tokyo-based drug maker, Otsuka Holdings Inc, preparing for the largest healthcare offering since 2006, priced shares at the lower end of its range.

The drug maker set the price at 2,100 yen a share, compared with its indicated range of 2,000 yen to 2,400 yen, the company said in its statement on Monday. The company said that it would be able to raise 198 billion yen including the over-allotment option.

Foreign exchange reserves of Japan declined for the first time in six months and stood at $1.101 trillion, the Finance Ministry said today. The decline was $17.09 billion, the fourth-largest on record.

Mazda Motor Corp plans to build plants in emerging markets as part of its global strategy to boost sales, President Takashi Yamanouchi said on Monday. The automaker has already dispatched its exploratory team to Brazil to locate sites to build a plant and secure sales channels.

“We are conducting studies in Brazil, India and Russia to make forays into these markets. In Russia and elsewhere we will not be competitive unless we pursue local production, which gives us tax benefits,” Yamanouchi told the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

Toshiba Corp said on Monday it plans to capture 10% of India’s LCD television market by the year 2013, from its share of roughly 1% now.

Later this month, the company will release what will eventually be five series of LCD TV’s spanning 10 models and also work towards doubling the number of retail stores that sell its brands to 4,000 by the end of 2011.

Online sellers of flat-panel TV sets have slashed their prices after the government halved its eco-point rewards on purchases of energy-saving appliances on last Wednesday.

Web site operator Kakaku.com Inc said the average price of 30 popular models available online declined 7% from a week ago to about 93,000 yen from Sunday.

Stock Movers

Sumitomo Corp and Mitsubishi Corp outperformed the broader index after reports indicated that both companies are expanding their non-Chinese rare earth businesses.

Mitsubishi Corp gained 0.4% to 2,173 yen and Sumitomo Corp advanced 0.3% to 1,174 yen.

Japan Petroleum Exploration Co, the country’s second-largest oil explorer, climbed 1% to close at 2,982 yen after crude oil prices rose in New York on Monday.

Among exporters, automakers were the biggest contributor to decline in Topix’s 33 industry groups.

Honda declined 1.91% to 3,075 yen and Toyota Motor dropped 0.59% to 3,255 yen.

Sony Corp declined 1.2% to 2,984 yen while Canon dropped 0.4% to 4,055 yen.