Japan Plans to Buy Euro-zone Bonds; Nikkei Slipped

Chandrasekhar Atreya
11 Jan, 2011
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo trading declined after reaching eight-month high last week. Japan plans to but euro-zone debt as the European Union prepared to float bonds to pump capital in the struggling economies. The latest survey shows a decline in adult population reaching the age of 20 years.

[R]5:00 PM Tokyo, Japan – Stocks in Tokyo trading declined after reaching eight-month high last week. Japan plans to but euro-zone debt as the European Union prepared to float bonds to pump capital in the struggling economies. The latest survey shows a decline in adult population reaching the age of 20 years.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo inched down from the eight-month peak reached last week on concerns of euro zone debt and weaker-than-expected U.S. job data. Japan also confirmed that it will participate in the euro-zone bond purchase.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 0.29% or 30.36 to close at 10,510.68 and the yen closes at 83.10 yen to a U.S. dollar and 107.54 yen to a euro in Tokyo today.

Japan said today it plans to buy debt issued by the European Financial Stability Facility later in January in a bid to help prevent the euro zone debt crisis from spilling over.

“The euro zone is planning to issue a large amount of bonds in a cooperative manner later this month to raise funds to assist Ireland and it is only appropriate for Japan, as a major economy, to buy some of the EFSF bonds to bolster confidence in Europe’s efforts,” Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said at a news conference.

Nissan Motor Co said Monday it expects its China sales to increase 13% in 2010 from a year ago to 1.15 million units. The company also said its China sales rose 35.5% in 2010 to 1.02 million units.

Idemitsu Kosan Co said Friday it will develop a new oil field in the Norwegian North Sea for which it submitted the development plan to the local government for approval. It will spend 20 billion yen to build an offshore plant and start production in the first half of 2014.

Resona Holdings Inc said Friday it plans to raise about 630 billion yen through common stock offering to repay money it owes to the government. It plans to issue up to 715 million shares in Japan, 63 million of which will be through over-allotment option, and up to 585 million shares in other countries, including 106 million shares to be issued later.

Subscriptions to fixed line telephone services declined 0.2% to reach 57.62 million as of September 30, from a quarter earlier, according to a quarterly survey done by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

The telecom connections have been steadily declining after reaching the high of 62.85 million in March 2008. Subscriptions to Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp fixed line phone services fell 2.3% to 36.22 million but internet protocol connections rose 5.1% to 16.17 million.

People reaching the age of 20 years in 2010, the legal age of adulthood in Japan, totaled about 1.24 million, a decline of about 30,000 from a year earlier, dropping for the fourth year in a row, according to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.

Softbank Corp said it gained 324,900 new subscribers at the end of December on a net basis, logging the largest increase in this sector for the ninth month in a row, according to data released today by four mobile carriers.

The expansion was mainly driven by Apple Inc’s iPhone 4 sales.

Stock Movers

Olympus closed down 1.09% at 2,519 yen and Canon Inc fell 1.4% to 4,155 yen. Ricoh lost 1.5% to 1,178 yen.

Resona Holdings dropped 7.3% to 485 yen on continuing dilution concerns after the company announced on Friday it will raise about $7.2 billion to pay back government dues.

Elpida Memory shed 3.8% to 1,001 yen after chip prices declined.