Nikkei Index Soars 2%; Japan's Current Account Surplus Drops 64%

Nigel Thomas
11 Oct, 2011
New York City

Stocks in Japan soared after a 3-day weekend. Current account surplus declined for the sixth month in a row to $5.3 billion. Toyota sales in China increased 11% in September. Takashimaya Corp revised earnings outlook and Nidec increased its share buyback plan.

[R]6:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan soared after a 3-day weekend. Current account surplus declined for the sixth month in a row to $5.3 billion. Toyota sales in China increased 11% in September. Takashimaya Corp revised earnings outlook and Nidec increased its share buyback plan.[/R]

Stocks in Japan gained after a 3-day weekend and reacted to the positive jobs report in the U.S. and after European leaders set October 23 deadline to release a plan to recapitalize banks.

Ministry of Finance reported August current account surplus plunged 64.3% to 407.5 billion yen or $5.3 billion. The current account surplus has declined for the sixth month in a row.

Exports in the month increased 4% and imports gained 13.6% and trade deficit was 694.7 billion yen and goods and services deficit increased to 877.3 billion yen.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 1.95% or 170.54 to 8,776.16 and the broader Topix index rose 13.45 or 1.8% to 755.00.

The yen edged lower to 76.62 from 76.65 against one dollar and traded near one-decade high against the euro to 102.15.

In trading, volume declined to 1.56 billion shares from 1.61 billion on Friday on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Of the shares traded, 1,272 gained and 315 declined.

Stock Movers

The Tokyo Electric Power Company increased 8 yen to 228 yen, Tohoku Electric Power increased 9 yen to 1,032 yen and the Kansai Electric Power added 11 yen to 1,237 yen.

Mitsui OSK Lines, Ltd increased 8 yen to 283 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha closed up 7 yen at 150 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. added 2 yen to 192 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 8 yen to 336 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group increased 56 yen to 2,137 yen.

MK Capital Management Corp soared 22% to 22,800 yen after privately held Marble Holdings offer to pay 35,000 yen a share or 5.7 billion yen for the company.

Mitsubishi Corp increased 27 yen to 1,508 yen and Mitsui & Co gained 17 yen to 1,105 yen. Marubeni Corp increased 13 yen to 413 yen.

Komatsu Ltd increased 99 yen to 1,638 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co increased 48 yen to 1,416 yen.

Dai-ichi Life soared 5.7% to 84,500 yen as the European leaders promised to announce a bank recapitalization plan at the October 23 summit and also negotiate a higher Greek sovereign debt write down.

Toyota Motor increased 41 yen to 2,590 yen and Honda Motor Co. rose 123 yen to 2,347 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd increased 10 yen to 711 yen.

Toyota sales in September in China rose 11% to 86,400 vehicles.

Nidec Corp soared 3.4% to 6.310 yen after the company revised its stock buyback plan to 6 million shares or 47 billion yen from the plan to purchase 3 million shares or 25 billion yen.

Softbank Corp gained 1.1% to 2,483 yen and KDDI Corp added 2.3% to 581,000 yen after strong pre-orders for the phone on the first of sale on Friday. More than 1 million people have reserved Apple Inc’s iPhone 4S model.

Defense contractors gained after Lockheed Martin Corp agreed to share technology to make F-35 fighter jets parts with Japanese partners. The news was first reported by Yomiuri newspaper.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd rose 2.2% to 324, Fuji Heavy Industries gained 3.5% to 447 yen and Kawasaki Heavy Industries soared 4% to 196 yen.

Sony Corp increased 5.7% to 1,496 yen, Panasonic Corp rose 21 yen to 738 yen and Canon Inc closed up 60 yen to 3,540 yen. Sharp Corp increased 30 yen to 697 yen.

Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co. gained 3% to 544 yen and Tokyo Electron Ltd added 5.6% to 3,965 yen after semiconductor industry index gained to a recent high.

Olympus Corp added 7 yen to 2,423 yen. Fanuc Ltd increased 470 yen to 11,450 yen. Kyocera increased 110 yen to 6,810 yen.

Takashimaya Co increased 2.8% to 586 yen after the retailer revised higher its full year net income 29% to 11 billion yen.

Onward Holdings Co decreased 1.9% to 620 yen after the apparel maker said net income plunged 93% to 76 million yen in the fiscal first half ending in August.