Japan Stocks Weak; Sony Declares Annual Loss of $3 Billion

Nigel Thomas
27 May, 2011
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo closed lower and failed to build on the recent rise in the week. Cautious investors stayed on the sidelines as trading volume dropped to the lows last seen on April 25. Sony reported third annual loss in a row.

[R]5:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo closed lower and failed to build on the recent rise in the week. Cautious investors stayed on the sidelines as trading volume dropped to the lows last seen on April 25. Sony reported third annual loss in a row.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo trading edged lower and closed down for the third week in a row. Investors shied away from adding more holdings after the U.S. weekly jobless claims increased and the first quarter economic outlook was left unchanged at 1.8%.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 0.4% to 9,521.94 and the broader Topix index fell 0.3% to 824.90. For the week, the Nikkei declined 0.9% and Topix eased 0.3%.

Trading volume of 1.51 billion shares was the weakest since April 25 when 1.46 billion shares changed hands. Of the shares changing hands, 956 declined and 544 gained.

The yen closed at 81.14 and fetched 115.54 to one euro.

Foreign investors added net new stock holdings for the 29th week in a row according to release from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The net new purchase declined to 50.5 billion yen in the week ending to May 20 from 79.6 billion yen in the previous week.

Stock Movers

Automakers declined after reporting weak auto production in April.

Toyota Motor declined 0.6% to 3,335 yen said domestic production fell 78%. Honda Motor Co eased 0.8% to 3,070 yen after its domestic production fell 81%. Nissan Motor fell 0.5% to 796 yen and its domestic production in April dropped 39%.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp declined 3.1%.

Fanuc Ltd declined 1.2% or 150 yen to 12,360 yen.

Canon Inc declined 0.4% to 3,835 yen and Kyocera Corp fell 0.6% to 8.400 yen.

Sony dropped 3.2% to 2,167 yen after the electronics makers said its full-year to March loss soared to 259.6 billion or $3.2 billion from 40.8 billion yen from a year ago.

Toshiba Corp eased 0.24% and JFE Holdings Inc added 0.2%.

Banks gained in Tokyo trading on the speculation in the European media that banks may be allowed to operate under relaxed capital requirements that are expected under Basel III guidelines.