Nikkei in Japan Up 0.8%; Toshiba, Elpida Rise, Yasakawa Falls

Nigel Thomas
21 Apr, 2011
New York City

The Nikkei benchmark index in Japan increased 0.8% ahead of short week. Apple linked stock gained after the mobile device maker reported sharply higher results. Toshiba and Elpida Memory increased. Yasakawa Electric declined 2.3% after it estimated weak production outlook for the next two months.

[R]5:30 PM Tokyo – The Nikkei benchmark index in Japan increased 0.8% ahead of short week. Apple linked stock gained after the mobile device maker reported sharply higher results. Toshiba and Elpida Memory increased. Yasakawa Electric declined 2.3% after it estimated weak production outlook for the next two months.[/R]

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 0.8% to 9.685.77 and the broader Topix index gained 0.5% to 841.72.

Trading volume hovered near the recent low of 1.68 billion shares on the main board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and below the 2.1 billion shares average last week.

The yen traded in a narrow range between 82.50 and 83.01 yen to a dollar.

Foreign investors added net 89.5 billion yen or $1 billion of stocks in Japan and increased net exposure to stocks in Japan for the third week in a row.

Stock Movers

Yasakawa Electric declined 2.3% to 863 yen after the largest maker of industrial robots said it was not certain of its production output in May and June on parts supply problems and weak demand.

Yasakawa is based on island of Kyushu, away from the disaster stricken Fukushima prefecture, still the industrial electronics company is facing uncertain outlook for the next two months.

JFE Holdings increased 3.5% to 2,249 yen after it reported a sharp downturn in earnings but still ahead of expectations and did not indicated earnings in the current fiscal year.

Inpex Corp gained 3.5% to 622,000 yen after Brent crude oil gained 2% to $124 a barrel, near 32-year high of $127 a barrel.

The largest trading house, Mitsubishi Corp increased 1.7% to 2,125 yen after metals and energy prices rallied. Marubeni increased 2.3% to 577 yen and Mitsui added 1.9% to 1,425 yen.

Toyota Corp increased 0.8% to 3,195 yen and Nissan Motor soared 3% to 746 yen. Honda Motor Corp added 1% to 3,075 yen.

Apple Inc linked stocks gained after the mobile devices maker reported 83% increase in sales and 95% increase in earnings. Elpida Memory added 3.6% to 1,179 yen and Toshiba increased 1.9% to 424 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ FG declined 1.6% to 374 yen on Tokyo media reports that the companies joint venture with Morgan Stanley is expected to book a trading loss of around 140 billion yen in the year ended in March.