Nikkei Gyrates; Tepco Drops 18%, Tokyo Gas Rises 4%

Nigel Thomas
28 Mar, 2011
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo resumed their slide for the third week in a row as Tokyo Electric Power struggled to contain radiation leak. Tokyo Gas soared 4% after it lifted earnings estimate for the current year. Automakers and D-RAM makers were in focus on the supply chain worries.

[R]5:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo resumed their slide for the third week in a row as Tokyo Electric Power struggled to contain radiation leak. Tokyo Gas soared 4% after it lifted earnings estimate for the current year. Automakers and D-RAM makers were in focus on the supply chain worries.[/R]

Stocks were on the defensive in Tokyo trading after scientists struggled to contain nuclear radiation leak near Fukushima power plant.

Over the weekend radiation level in water at No.2 reactor in the power plant shot up to 100,000 times and in nearby seawater were near 1,850 times normal level.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 0.6% or 57.60 to 9.478.53 and the broader Topix index increased 0.05% to 857.85.

The benchmark index has declined 6% since the triple disaster hit on March 11 and a flood of foreign money has supported the market rebound in the last one week. Foreign investors added 891 billion yen stock purchase in the week following the disaster.

Stock Movers

Tokyo Gas increased 4.1% to 379 yen after the gas distributor increased its full-year earnings estimate to 98 billion yen from 71 billion yen as demand rose on colder than usual weather.

Automakers and memory chipmakers were in focus on the worries that automakers may struggle to resume full production in April.

Toyota Motor increased 20 yen to close at 3,295 yen and Nissan Motor Co, Ltd added 24 to 705 yen and Honda Motor Co., Ltd added 62 to 3,040 yen.

Toshiba Corp dropped 0.5% to 397 yen, Casio Computer Co Ltd declined 1.4% to 620 yen and Sony Corp dropped 1.3% to 2,600 yen.

JFE Holdings increased 1.5% to 2,399 yen after Nikkei reported that the company is expected to increase steel production for temporary housing at its Kobe plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc dropped its daily limit 17.7% or 150 yen to 696 yen and is now trading at a one third its price a day before the disaster hit Fukushima nuclear power plant. The company serves 45 million customers or nearly one third of Japan’s population.

The company earlier today issued a radiation warning of 10 million times normal levels near Fukushima plant and later revised the mistake and said radiation level are close to one hundred thousand times normal level.

Tohoku Electric Power declined 0.6% to 1,497 yen and Chubu Electric Power edged 0.1% lower to 1,962 yen.