Nikkei in Tokyo Falls 1.7% , Tankan Index Turns Negative

Nigel Thomas
15 Dec, 2011
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo extended losses after the latest quarterly survey of big businesses showed a fall in confidence. Large businesses also plan to cut capital expenditure in the quarter ahead. Ocean freight companies dropped to the lows of the year after rates fell on the Asia-Europe route.

[R]7:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo extended losses for the second day in a row after the latest quarterly survey of big businesses showed a fall in confidence. Large businesses also plan to cut capital expenditure in the quarter ahead. Ocean freight companies dropped to the lows of the year after rates fell on the Asia-Europe route. Olympus dropped 20%.[/R]

Stocks in Japan declined and extended losses for the second day after commodities fell and ocean freight shipping companies dropped near the low for the year and for the decade.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 1.7% to 8,377.37 and the broader Topix index declined 1.6% to 725.02. The Nikkei declined to the low of the month and has fallen 18.1% in the year so far.

Trading volume on the main board of Tokyo Stock Exchange decreased to 1.54 billion shares from 1.65 billion shares on Tuesday and of the shares traded, six shares declined for the every stock that closed higher.

The latest quarterly tankan survey of big businesses showed a decline in confidence among big businesses. The indicator declined to -4 from 2 in the previous quarter and large businesses plan to cut their capital spending and manufacturers expect conditions to worsen in the months ahead.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor decreased 32 yen to 2,546 yen and Honda Motor Co. fell 41 yen to 2,290 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd declined 19 yen to 670 yen.

Sony Corp fell 20 yen to 1,345 yen, Panasonic Corp fell 23 yen at 674 yen and Canon Inc closed down 30 yen to 3,395 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd decreased 200 yen to 10,930 yen.

Nexon Co Ltd extended losses for the second day in a row and decreased 26 yen to 1,244 yen.

Olympus Corp decreased 273 yen to 1,041 yen after the company restated financial statements that reflected losses of $1.1 billion that had been hidden for more than thirteen years.

Fanuc Ltd closed down 210 yen to 12,070 yen and Kyocera closed down 180 yen at 6,310 yen. Nikon Corp fell 16 yen to 1,671 yen.

Elpida Memory Inc fell 23 yen to 404 yen and Ulvac, Inc fell 58 yen to 1,020 yen.

Ocean freight companies declined and traded near lows for the year and are down more than 505 in the year after freight rates between Europe and Asia plunge.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd fell 16 yen to 273 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed down 7 yen to 140 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. decreased 9 yen to 187 yen.

Daiichi Sankyo Ltd declined 16 yen to 1,440 yen, Astellas Pharma Inc increased 5 yen to 3,040 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. decreased 40 yen to 12,940 yen.

Ms&Ad Insurance Group Holdings, Inc closed down 39 yen to 1,446 yen and NKSJ Holdings Inc fell 38 yen to 1,511 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 4 yen at 329 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group decreased 16 yen to 2,214 yen.

The construction machinery makers declined after China linked stocks fell after a private survey in China reported manufacturing index declined for the second month in a row in December and new orders fell.

Komatsu Ltd decreased 81 yen to 1,855 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co declined 56 yen to 1,298 yen.

Tokyo Electric Power Co decreased 7 yen to 226 yen.

Softbank Corp fell 75 yen to 2,351 yen, KDDI fell 1.1% to 489,000 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc fell 0.2% to 136,200 yen