Nikkei Opens 2012 with 1.2% Rise

Nigel Thomas
04 Jan, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo opened higher on the first day of trading after a long weekend. The Nikkei 225 index increased 1.2% after falling 17.3% in 2011. ExxonMobil plans to sell its stake in the refiner TonenGeneral.

[R]7:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo opened higher on the first day of trading after a long weekend. The Nikkei 225 index increased 1.2% after falling 17.3% in 2011. ExxonMobil plans to sell its stake in the refiner TonenGeneral.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo traded higher on the first day of trading in the year after global economic data improved. U.S., China, India and Australia reported improving manufacturing.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1.2% to 8,560.11 and the broader Topix index decreased 2% to 742.99. For the year the Nikkei declined 17.3% as markets around the world edged lower and the S&P 500 index in New York.

Investors also focused on the improving inflation and unemployment data in the euro zone but worries that Germany, France and Italy are scheduled to raise more than 300 billion euros in the year to April.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor rose 79 yen to 2,644 yen and Honda Motor Co. closed up 95 yen to 2,443 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd increased 7 yen to 699 yen.

Suzuki Motor Corp increased 2% to 1,627 yen after the automaker said it will spend 60 billion yen to increase its manufacturing capacity in Indonesia.

Sony Corp increased 95 yen to 1,404 yen, Panasonic Corp rose 11 yen at 665 yen and Canon Inc closed up 20 yen to 3,430 yen.

Nintendo Co. Ltd increased 420 yen to 10,960 yen and Nexon Co Ltd rose 46 yen to 1,153 yen.

Olympus Corp decreased 24 yen to 988 yen and Nikon Corp increased 37 yen to 1,751 yen.

Fanuc Ltd closed up 250 yen to 12,030 yen and Kyocera added 90 yen at 6,280 yen. Casio Computer Co., Ltd decreased 12 yen to 455 yen.

Elpida Memory Inc rose 20 yen to 378 yen and Ulvac, Inc rose 38 yen to 982 yen.

Elpida soared 6% after Taiwan based DigiTimes said that the company is in talks to merge with Toshiba encouraged by Japanese bureaucrats to withstand competition from Korean makers. Toshiba denied the reports and DigiTimes did not cite any sources.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd increased 6 yen to 304 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed up 4 yen to 196 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. increased 4 yen to 201 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. decreased 280 yen to 13,720 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd fell 1 yen to 373 yen.

Ms&Ad Insurance Group Holdings, Inc added 53 yen to 1,479 yen and NKSJ Holdings Inc rose 33 yen to 1,543 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group closed up 338 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group increased 80 yen to 2,224 yen.

Komatsu Ltd increased 60 yen to 1,859 yen and Nikkei reported construction machinery maker plans to invest as much as 15 billion yen to increase manufacturing capacity at three plants in Japan.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co increased 9 yen to 1,305 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp increased 10 yen to 286 yen after the company won 180 billion power plant and water facilities project in Brazil according to a press release on the company website.

TonenGeneral Seikyu K.K. declined 5.6% or 49 yen to 792 yen and Reuters reported that its parent ExxonMobil plans to sell its 50% stake to the company. The stock fell on the worries the worries that the company may increase debt to fund the purchase.

Softbank Corp closed up 77 yen at 2,344 yen, KDDI increased 2.2% to 506,000 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc rose 2,000 yen to 143,500 yen.

Mitsubishi Electric Corp increased 20 yen to 758 yen and extended gains for the five days to 7.8%.