Nikkei Edges Higher in Volatile Trading; Olympus in Focus

Nigel Thomas
17 Nov, 2011
New York City

Stocks in Japan rose fractionally in a cautious trading and Asian markets focused on the volatility in the euro zone. Olympus remained the most actively traded stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Nippon Life lowered its stake in the camera maker.

[R]6:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan rose fractionally in a cautious trading and Asian markets focused on the volatility in the euro zone. Olympus remained the most actively traded stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Nippon Life lowered its stake in the camera maker.[/R]

Japanese stocks closed higher as world markets traded volatile and remained focus on the euro zone debt contagion.

Fitch predicted that U.S. banks could be greatly affected if the debt contagion continues to spread beyond the stressed European markets such as Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.

""Unless the euro-zone debt crisis is resolved in a timely and orderly manner, the broad outlook for U.S. banks could worsen,"" the agency said.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 0.2% to 8,479.63 and the broader Topix index fell 0.5% to 727.71.

Trading volume increased to 1.52 billion from 1.35 billion shares on Wednesday but lower than the average volume of 1.74 billion shares last week.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor increased 38 yen to 2,505 yen and Honda Motor Co. increased 31 yen to 2,255 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd fell 4 yen to 690 yen.

Sony Corp decreased 14 yen to 1,322 yen, Panasonic Corp closed down 8 yen at 692 yen and Canon Inc closed unchanged at to 3,365 yen.

Nintendo Co. Ltd fell 150 yen to 11,680 yen.

Olympus Corp increased 7 yen or 1% to 747 yen and was the most actively traded stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Nippon Life Insurance said it cut its stake in the company from 8.2% to 5.1%.

Nomura Holdings, Inc increased 2.5% to 248 yen on the worries that investigation in Olympus may lead to fines on the speculation that the broker helped the camera maker hid losses for more than a decade. The company has denied the allegations.

Fanuc Ltd increased 30 yen to 12,750 yen and Kyocera closed up 80 yen at 6,630 yen. Nikon Corp rose 25 yen to 1,753 yen.

TDK Corp soared 8.8% or 285 yen to 3,535 yen after Western Digital signed a partnership for the supply of hard disk drives from the first quarter 2012.

Shipping companies closed at new 10-year lows for the second day in a row on the worries linked to the euro zone and the freight rate to Europe declined.

Mitsui OSK Lines, Ltd rose 1 yen to 252 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed unchanged at 205 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. unchanged at 169 yen.

Dai-ichi Life rose 400 yen to 79,800 yen.

Property and Casualty insurers remain in focus as Thailand struggles with the rising flood losses and Japan accelerates efforts to rebuild the tsunami affected region.

MS & AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc closed unchanged 1,524 yen and NKSJ Holdings Inc fell 3 yen to 1,525 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group closed unchanged at 331 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group increased 10 yen to 2,109 yen.

Komatsu Ltd decreased 29 yen to 1,923 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co decreased 15 yen to 1,406 yen.

Elpida Memory Inc rose 8.9% or 29 yen to 359 yen after the DRAM memory maker said it will cut the capacity to revive market prices.