Nikkei in 3-day Losses, Nikon, Inpex, Toyota Fall

Nigel Thomas
19 Aug, 2011
New York City

The Nikkei index in Tokyo dropped 2.5% after markets in Asia declined sharply on the renewed economic worries in the U.S. and Europe. The yen traded near its record high as speculators seek safety. The chipmakers extended losses for the second day.

[R]8:00 PM Tokyo – The Nikkei index in Tokyo dropped 2.5% after markets in Asia declined sharply on the renewed economic worries in the U.S. and Europe. The yen traded near its record high as speculators seek safety. The chipmakers extended losses for the second day.[/R]

Stocks in Japan declined tracking losses in Asian markets as worries in the euro-zone intensified and the U.S. economic data paint a weak outlook. The yen hovered near record high as Japanese companies continue to repatriate foreign income to support rebuilding efforts.

The market index in Tokyo dropped 2.5%, in Hong Kong fell more than 3% and Shanghai declined 1% and in Mumbai dropped more than 2%. The index in South Korea plunged 6.2%, in Singapore dropped 3.2% and in Indonesia declined 4.4%.

European indexes slumped more than 4% after investors focused on the weak U.S. economic data and questioned the health of the euro-zone banking system. The markets were weak at the opening after Asian markets plunged between 2.5% and 6% and feeble jobless claims, home sales and a regional manufacturing data in the U.S.

Market jitters were also compounded after one medium bank in Europe decided to tap $500 million emergency loan facility available from the European Central Bank. Though the borrowed amount is relatively small, it nevertheless put investors on the edge and the index in Germany dropped as much as 4.5% in the early trading.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s decision to investigate the U.S arms of many European banks led to a steep sell-off yesterday of bank stocks renewing concerns about the state of the banks in the region.

Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 2.5% or 224.50 to 8,719.76 and the Topix index decreased 2% to 751.69.

Trading in Tokyo declined to 1.7 billion shares from the last week’s average of 2.4 billion and 417 shares increased and 1,122 declined.

The yen traded in a tight range and close near its record low of 76.25 against one dollar and closed at 76.50 to a dollar.

Stock Movers

The strong yen dragged the consumer electronics maker lower for the second week in a row.

Toshiba Corp declined 11 yen to 311 yen and Hitachi Ltd dropped 16 yen to 393 yen. Minebea Co. Ltd dropped 4% and extended losses in 2-days to 10% to 300 yen and Shinko Electric declined 6% to 198 yen.

TDK dropped 2.1% to 3,250 yen. Canon Inc declined 2.4% to 3,465 yen and Nikon Corp fell 100 yen to 1,610 yen.

Nikon led the losers among chip makers after the Philadelphia semiconductor chip index dropped 6%.

Tokyo Electron declined 5% to 3,400 yen and Advantest Corp fell 4.9% to 1,018 yen.

Trading companies fell after crude oil declined more than 5% in New York trading to $82.38 a barrel.

Mitsubishi Corp declined 3% to 1,773 yen and Mitsui & Co. fell 2.4% to 1,268 yen.

Oil exploration companies also declined with Inpex Corp dropped nearly y5% to 475,000 yen. Japan Petroleum Exploration dropped 5.2% to 3,095 yen.

Don Quijote Co increased 2.5% to 2,799 yen after the discount retailer said operating profit in the year ending in June increased 20% and estimated 6.6% in earnings in the current fiscal year.

Toyota Motor declined 1.4% to 2,768 yen and Honda Motor Co. fell 3.3% to 2,403. Nissan Motor Co. dropped 4.4% to 653 yen and Isuzu Motors Ltd plunged 6% to 320 yen.

Gree Inc, the social networking site dropped more than 6% to 2,290 yen on the worries that the stock is ahead of its fundamentals. The stock was the most actively traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.