Nikkei Adds 1.6%; Nintendo, Honda, Olympus Rise

Nigel Thomas
28 Nov, 2011
New York City

The Nikkei index in Tokyo increased for the first time in six days after U.S. holiday sales soared on the critical Thanksgiving. Shipping companies rebounded after freight rates rebounded. Nintendo extended gains for the second day in a row.

[R]7:00 PM Tokyo – The Nikkei index in Tokyo increased for the first time in six days after U.S. holiday sales soared on the critical Thanksgiving. Shipping companies rebounded after freight rates rebounded. Nintendo extended gains for the second day in a row.[/R]

Stocks in Japan soared for the first time in six days after U.S. holiday sales rose at the fastest pace in the last five years. In addition, reports in Italian press also suggested that the International Monetary Fund may provide loans.

The report in the La Stampa suggested that the multilateral agency and Italian Treasury are in talks that may lead to a loan of €440 billion at an interest of 4.5%.

U.S. retailers racked up a record $52.4 billion in sales over Thanksgiving weekend, up 16.4% from a year earlier, data from an industry trade group showed.

A record 226 million visited stores and Web sites over the Black Friday weekend, up from 212 million in 2010, according to early estimates by the National Retail Federation.

Friday after Thanksgiving holiday, historically the busiest day in the 60-day holiday sale period, sales increased 6.6% over the same day last year, according to research firm ShopperTrak.

Retail foot-traffic rose 5.1% on Friday from a year ago.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 1.6% to 8,287.49 and the broader Topix index rose 1.3% to 715.70.

The yen at close in Tokyo trading fell 0.2% to 77.66 per U.S. dollar.

Trading volume decreased to 1.36 billion from 1.50 billion shares on Friday and 419 shares declined and 1,107 declined.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor increased 70 yen to 2,483 yen and Honda Motor Co. rose 92 yen to 2,313 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd added 19 yen to 675 yen.

Sony Corp increased 31 yen to 1,363 yen, Panasonic Corp closed up 21 yen at 706 yen and Canon Inc rose 10 yen at to 3,340 yen.

Nintendo Co. Ltd extended for the second day a gain of 300 yen or 2.7% to 11,470 yen on the media reports that its new 3DS game Super Mario Bros. is enjoying brisk sales and lifted hopes of higher sales of its game console. In the first three weeks of sales, the new handheld devices sold 340,000 units according to local media reports.

Olympus Corp decreased 117 yen or 11% to 990 yen after the company board members agreed that avoiding the de-listing is the first priority. Ex-chief executive is angling to get his job back at Olympus according to three sources close to the Olympus board contracted by 123jump.com and is looking to install his multimillion dollar bonus.

Fanuc Ltd increased 320 yen to 12,120 yen and Kyocera closed up 190 yen at 6,610 yen. Nikon Corp added 5 yen to 1,744 yen.

Elpida Memory Inc gained 2.9% or 11 yen to 394 yen and Ulvac Inc added 46 yen to 951 yen.

Shipping companies rebounded from the lows of 10-year after the U.S. holiday sales surged.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd rose 14 yen to 240 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd added 4 yen to 130 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. gained 8 yen at 167 yen.

Dai-ichi Life increased 4,900 yen to 83,000 yen.

Ms&Ad Insurance Group Holdings, Inc added 16 yen to 1,475 yen and NKSJ Holdings Inc rose 22 yen to 1,492 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group was 6 yen at 326 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group increased 44 yen to 2,082 yen.

Komatsu Ltd increased 73 yen to 1,884 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co increased 45 yen to 1,330 yen.