Sixth Weekly Gain in Nikkei Index; Machine Tools Orders Surge

Chandrasekhar Atreya
10 Dec, 2010
New York City

The Nikkei index in Tokyo declined from the seven-month high but closed higher for the sixth week in a row. Economy in the quarter to September expanded at a faster rate of 4.5%. Pola Orbis struggled on the first day of trading. Machine tool orders double in November.

[R]5:00 PM Tokyo, Japan – The Nikkei index in Tokyo declined from the seven-month high but closed higher for the sixth week in a row. Economy in the quarter to September expanded at a faster rate of 4.5%. Pola Orbis struggled on the first day of trading. Machine tool orders double in November.[/R]

Tokyo stocks fell in trade on profit booking after rising to a seven-month high on GDP and a stronger euro and dollar.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.72% or 73.93 to close at 10,211.95. The index gained 1.72% for the week and the sixth weekly gain in a row. The broader Topix lost 0.4% to 888.22 but gained nearly 1% for the week.

The yen appreciated to 111.59 against the euro and strengthened to 83.52 yen to a dollar from 83.83 on Thursday.

Japan’s economy expanded at a faster rate in the third quarter than initially thought on higher spending by companies, the government said Thursday.

Real gross domestic product, which is a measure of the value of all goods and services produced, expanded at an annualized rate of 4.5% in the September quarter, revised up from the 3.9% estimated last month.

Florida high-speed rail project, which has a funding gap of $350 million, may get as much as $210 million loan from state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation as part of JR Central’s bid for the project, Tadashi Maeda, head of corporate planning said in an interview in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Japanese investors turned net buyers of Indian bonds in the first ten months of 2010 from net sellers in 2009, while purchases of Australian notes fell almost 37%, data from the Ministry of Finance in Tokyo show.

Banks in Japan predicted that investment in rupee bonds will deliver investors returns of 24% for yen-based buyers, at rates better than against many other attractive investments. Japan’s biggest bond funds that are planning to enter the Indian market are PineBridge Investments Japan Co and Kokusai Asset Management Co.

Shipments of beer and beer like beverages surged 3.2% in November from a year ago to 36.41 million cases, reversing declines in October, according to data released today by five major breweries in Japan.

Shares of the cosmetic firm Pola Orbis Holdings Inc failed to reach the IPO price of 1,800 yen a share on their debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange today.

A major state-owned agricultural company agreed to help Japan increase its farm exports to China in exchange for technology inputs in framing, forestry and fishing.

Nobutaka Tsutsui, Japan’s Senior Vice-Minister of Agriculture, signed an agreement in this regard with China National Agricultural Development Group Corp in Beijing on Thursday.

Machine tool orders in November doubled from a year earlier to 96.7 billion yen on strong demand from companies that produce Apple Inc’s iPhone smartphones and iPad tablet computers, according to preliminary reports released Thursday by Japan Machine Tool Builders’ Association.

Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd developed a boiler that can use biomass waste from palm oil production as its fuel, avoiding ash in the earlier versions.

The company plans to market the new boiler before the year end, targeting power providers in Southeast Asia, where palm oil is produced.

Stock Movers

Mitsui & Co dropped 1.74% or 24 yen to 1,352 yen, after metal prices dropped.

Among exporters Toyota Motor Corp sank 1.37% to 3,230 yen and Fanuc Ltd, maker of industrial robots, dropped 1.91% to 12,350 yen.

Cannon Inc added 0.73% to close at 4,115 yen.