Nikkei Rebounds 1.7%; Mitsui in Oil Tanker Deal

Nigel Thomas
07 Dec, 2011
New York City

The Nikkei index advanced and closed at one-month high following positive sentiment in Asian markets. Trading volume surged and resources linked companies and banks led the gainers. Mitsui O.S.K. agreed to form a joint venture with Danish and Singaporean partners to operate oil supertanker services.

[R]7:00 PM Tokyo – The Nikkei in Tokyo advanced and closed at one-month high following positive sentiment in Asian markets. Trading volume surged and resources linked companies and banks led the gainers. Mitsui O.S.K. agreed to form a joint venture with Danish and Singaporean partners to operate oil supertanker services.[/R]

Stocks in Japan advanced and the benchmark index surged to the 30-month high tracking gains in the international markets.

The positive sentiment ruled trading and export sensitive stocks and resources linked companies led the gainers. Banks gained on the hopes that the euro zone leaders will offer concrete steps to arrest the widening debt contagion.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 1.7% to 8,722.17 and the broader Topix index added 1.6% to 749.63.

Trading volume on the main board of Tokyo Stock Exchange increased to 1.81 billion shares from 1.59 billion shares on Tuesday with 1,366 stocks closing higher and 204 closing lower.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor increased 66 yen to 2,672 yen and Honda Motor Co. added 33 yen to 2,495 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd gained 9 yen to 708 yen.

Sony Corp increased 81 yen to 1,452 yen, Panasonic Corp added 19 yen at 735 yen and Canon Inc closed up 45 yen to 3,490 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd rose 90 yen to 11,150 yen.

Olympus Corp decreased 62 yen to 1,128 yen as investors took a profit after rallying for a week ahead of an independent panel report. The company is still set to release its revised financials on December 14.

Olympus President Shuichi Takayama said on Wednesday that the entire board will resign after the release of the revised financial statement.

Fanuc Ltd increased 230 yen to 13,100 yen and Kyocera closed up 120 yen at 6,920 yen. Nikon Corp rose 8 yen to 1,785 yen.

Elpida Memory Inc rose 23 yen to 411 yen and Ulvac Inc dropped 54 yen to 1,062 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd rose 29 yen to 288 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd increased 10 yen to 147 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. closed up 14 yen at 192 yen.

Mitsui said in a statement that it will work with its joint venture partners in Singapore and Denmark to jointly operate supertanker service of 50 oil tankers.

Mitsui also sold its youngest oil tanker built in 1995 to ship breaking company as the daily net rate drop to a decade low. The industry publication report suggested that Mitusi sold the ship for $20 million, the price it paid to built the ship.

Meiji Holdings gained 5.1% to 3,175 yen after the company confirmed that minute traces of radioactivity in powdered milk pose no health risks. The stock had dropped nearly 10% in yesterday’s trading after Kyodo News reported cesium was found in the infant formula.

Daiichi Sankyo Ltd fell 3 yen to 1,458 yen and Fast Retailing Co. decreased 1.9% to 13,200 yen.

Ms&Ad Insurance Group Holdings, Inc closed up 14 yen to 1,484 yen and NKSJ Holdings Inc added 62 yen to 1,591 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group closed up 4 yen at 348 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group increased 38 yen to 2,250 yen.

Komatsu Ltd increased 44 yen to 2,021 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co increased 21 yen to 1,389 yen.

Softbank Corp increased 50 yen to 2,431 yen, KDDI added 0.6% to 506,000 yen and
NTT DoCoMo, Inc added 0.3% to 139,500 yen.