Nikkei in Japan Decline 0.4%; Thai Floods Race to Bangkok

Nigel Thomas
19 Oct, 2011
New York City

Stocks in Japan declined and traded volatile with the news flow from the euro zone. Olympus extended losses after chairman acknowledged payment to advisors that were higher than earlier disclosed. Thai floods devastate oldest industrial estate.

[R]6:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan declined and traded volatile with the news flow from the euro zone. Olympus extended losses after chairman acknowledged payment to advisors that were higher than earlier disclosed. Thai floods devastate oldest industrial estate.[/R]

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 0.4% or 30.63 to 8,772.54 and the broader Topix index was flat at 751.49.

The yen edged higher to 77.86 from 77.69 against one dollar and fell to 104.75 yen against one euro.

In trading on the main section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, 1.30 billion shares changed hands and rebounded from the low for the last eleven months. Olympus led the most active list on the main section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Thailand increased the estimate of flood damage to more than 4% of its Gross Domestic Product and revised death toll to 317.

The oldest industrial estate Nava Nakorn was completely inundated with flood waters threatening jobs of 270,000 workers and lost production at 200 factories. Authorities also urged residents in north and eastern districts of Bangkok to evacuate to higher elevations as water levels are expected to rise in the next 2 hours.

Nearly nine million people are affected by floods and 27 o the Thailand’s 77 provinces are already underwater.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor increased 1 yen to 2,580 yen and Honda Motor Co. added 6 yen to 2,374 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd decreased 7 yen to 709 yen.

Mazda Motor Corp declined 6 yen to 158 yen after the automaker said it will suspend its production in Thailand till October 22.

Sony Corp decreased 19 yen to 1,569 yen, Panasonic Corp fell 2 yen to 745 yen and Canon Inc increased 65 yen to 3,475 yen.

Olympus chairman clarified that the company paid $687 million to advisers for the purchase of UK based medical equipment company Gyrus Group Plc. The chairman earlier had estimated the payment of 30 billion yen or $385 million.

Olympus Corp dropped 2% or 28 yen to 1,389 yen, the low last seen in March 2009. Fanuc Ltd increased 180 yen to 12,160 yen. Kyocera closed flat at 7,090 yen.

DeNA Co. fell 8% to 3,135 yen after the company is expected to pay 10 billion yen to acquire Yokohama BayStars professional baseball team. The news was first reported by the business daily Nikkei.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company decreased 1 yen to 215 yen, Tohoku Electric Power increased 11 yen to 953 yen and the Kansai Electric Power added 6 yen to 1,166 yen.

Mitsui OSK Lines, Ltd decreased 4 yen to 307 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed down 1 yen at 153 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. fell 1 yen at 204 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 3 yen to 338 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group increased 3 yen to 2,155 yen.

Mitsubishi Corp decreased 54 yen to 1,520 yen and Mitsui & Co, Ltd decreased 25 yen to 1,101 yen. Marubeni Corp decreased 5 yen to 424 yen.

Taihei Kogyo Co, Ltd increased 4.2% or 17 yen to 414 yen after the civil engineering company reported its preliminary earnings for the six months to September were 2.75 billion yen ahead of its estimate of 1.7 billion yen.

Komatsu Ltd increased 22 yen to 1,762 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co increased 5 yen to 1,384 yen.

Dai-ichi Life rose 0.1% to 83,900 yen as European markets gyrated on the rumors that France and Germany are closed to an agreement to increase the size of the rescue fund.