Nikkei in Tokyo Falls 1.2%; Japan Bridge Soars 19%

Nigel Thomas
06 Jan, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo trading declined as volume rebounded ahead of three-day weekend. The Nikkei declined 1.2% and the Topix index fell 0.9%. For the week, the Nikkei fell 0.9% and Topic gained a fraction. Panasonic plans to sell its stake in JVC Kenwood. Japan Bridge soared 19%.

[R]8:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo trading declined as volume rebounded ahead of three-day weekend. The Nikkei declined 1.2% and the Topix index fell 0.9%. For the week, the Nikkei fell 0.9% and Topic gained a fraction. Panasonic plans to sell its stake in JVC Kenwood. Japan Bridge soared 19%.[/R]

Stocks in Japan declined as worries about the euro zone intensified and prices of commodities declined in the Asian markets.

Market indexes gained in the first week of trading but the euro faced decline of more than 2% against the dollar and the yen as banks prepare to raise more capital at a heavily discounted share price and Spain estimated sharply higher bank reserves to account for bad property assets.

The euro fell to 98.48 yen and declined to 16-month low against the dollar to $1.28.

Investors are worried that the debt market in the euro zone may be overwhelmed as the nations in the region prepare to rollover debt of 270 billion euros in the first quarter.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.2% to 8,390.35 and the broader Topix index decreased 0.9% to 729.60. For the week, the Nikkei declined 0.8% and the Topix gained a fraction.

In trading on the main board of Tokyo Stock Exchange, 1.54 billion shares changed hands compared to 1.26 billion shares on Thursday. Of the traded shares, 1,152 declined and 354 increased.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor closed down 6 yen to 2,638 yen and Honda Motor Co. closed unchanged at 2,453 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd decreased 15 yen to 676 yen. Suzuki Motor Corp decreased 22 yen to 1,584 yen.

Nippon Steel declined 6 yen to 185 yen, JFE Holdings declined 2.5% to 1,352 yen and The Japan Steel Works, Ltd declined 19 yen or 3.6% to 516 yen.

Kyodo News reported that a fire broke out at one of the Tokyo plants of JFE Holdings.

Sony Corp decreased 28 yen to 1,345 yen, Panasonic Corp fell 2 yen at 654 yen and Canon Inc closed down 25 yen to 3,365 yen. JVC Kenwood Corp soared 9% to 286 yen after its largest stockholder Panasonic said it plans to sell its stake.

Nintendo Co. Ltd decreased 100 yen to 10,630 yen and Nexon Co Ltd fell 27 yen to 1,125 yen.

Olympus Corp increased 22 yen to 1,053 yen and former chief executive Michael Woodruff gave up his fight to regain his position. Investors were lukewarm to Woodruff’s argument that he can improve the company fortunes and most investors believed that his recent quest to disclose the company’s hidden losses may have been driven in part to gain control of the company and sell it to private equity investors based in the UK.

Nikon Corp fell 17 yen to 1,716 yen, Fanuc Ltd closed down 140 yen to 11,740 yen and Kyocera fell 60 yen at 6,140 yen. Casio Computer Co., Ltd decreased 12 yen to 436 yen.

Elpida Memory Inc fell 19 yen to 331 yen, Ulvac, Inc fell 28 yen to 947 yen and Renesas Electronics Corp decreased 3% to 455 yen.

Chip companies were also under pressure after Nomura and Deutsche Bank lowered their views on the industry.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd decreased 14 yen to 282 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed down 7 yen to 133 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. decreased 6 yen to 192 yen.

Japan Bridge Corp soared 19% to 380 yen after a report indicated that the Metropolitan Expressway Company was planning to spend 1 trillion yen to upgrade infrastructure.

Fast Retailing Co. increased 50 yen to 13,850 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd fell 3 yen to 366 yen.

Gulliver International Co declined 6% to 2,923 yen after the used car dealer said net income declined 30% to 3.62 billion yen in the nine month period to November on the earthquake and other disaster related losses.

Ms&Ad Insurance Group Holdings, Inc fell 16 yen to 1,442 yen and NKSJ Holdings Inc decreased 21 yen to 1,503 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 1 yen to 333 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group decreased 21 yen to 2,188 yen.

Komatsu Ltd decreased 38 yen to 1,825 yen and lost most the gains of the week.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co decreased 17 yen to 1,279 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp decreased 1 yen to 283 yen.

Softbank Corp closed down 29 yen at 2,285 yen, KDDI decreased 1.1% to 496,500 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc closed unchanged at 142,500 yen.