Nikkei in Tokyo Advances; Sega Net Up, Credit Saison Lifts Outlook

Nigel Thomas
07 Feb, 2011
New York City

Stocks in Japan closed higher after the U.S. unemployment rate declined. Exporters led the gainers. Sega Sammy added 3% after nine-month income more than doubled and Credit Saison 9% after it lifted full year earnings estimate.

[R]4:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan closed higher after the U.S. unemployment rate declined. Exporters led the gainers. Sega Sammy added 3% after nine-month income more than doubled and Credit Saison 9% after it lifted full year earnings estimate. Suzuki net rises despite Indian market pose challenges.[/R]

Stocks in Japan closed higher following the decline in U.S. unemployment rate to 9% in January from 9.4% in December.

The latest jobs report offered a mixed picture as private sector created net new jobs of 50,000 and government cut 14,000 and in the month net new jobs added were 36,000, significantly less than what economists had expected.

Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 0.5% to 10,592.04 and the broader Topix index gained 0.5% to 940.43.

The yen declined to 82.29 against the dollar.

Exporters gained in trading on the U.S. jobs report. Toyota Motor, Hitachi, Sony, Toshiba Corp and Cannon gained.

Suzuki Motor Corp, fourth largest automaker in Japan said third quarter operating net increased 31% to 23.65 billion yen and nine-month profit of 92.46 billion yen. Third quarter net rose to 12.2 billion from 2 billion yen a year ago.

Suzuki India venture Maruti Suzuki reported 18% decline in earnings in the latest quarter as raw materials prices rise and competition in the low price segment hits up. The India venture has 54.2% market share in India.

Stock Movers

Sega Sammy Holdings Inc increased 3% to 1,795 yen after the game console maker said that net income in 9-month to December more than doubled to 36.8 billion yen and The sharper than expected increase surprised many analysts.

Credit Saison soared 8.5% to 1,593 yen after the short term lending provider to consumer revised its full year fiscal earnings outlook by 38% to 16.5 billion yen.

Kobe Steel Ltd increased 0.9% to 224 yen after Daiwa Securities Group lifted stock outlook to “outperform” from “neutral.”

Yokogawa Electric added 7.5% to 719 yen after Nomura Securities lifted stock price to 770 yen from 680 yen on higher than expected consumption of electric energy.

Banks led the gainers in Tokyo trading. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc added 0.6% to 2,909 yen and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc added 1.6% to 445 yen.

Ebabra increased 13% to 449 yen after the pump maker lifted full year fiscal earnings estimate t 11 billion yen, more than double from a year ago.