Nikkei Rebounds 1%; Machine Tools Orders Soar 15%

Nigel Thomas
18 Jan, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo gained after factory equipment orders increased 15% in November. Tokyo Electric Power said it will increase rates for business customers by 17%.

[R]7:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo gained after factory equipment orders increased 15% in November. Tokyo Electric Power said it will increase rates for business customers by 17%.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo trading gained after machine tools orders increased and China reported a series of positive economic reports and market sentiment improved after the U.S. reported an improvement in the New York region economy.

Machinery orders soared 14.8% in November from previous month according to the latest data released by the Cabinet Office.

Stocks in Tokyo trading closed higher after machine tools orders increased in December and better than expected regional economic outlook in the U.S. In addition, market sentiment was positive after China reported strong economic growth, retail sales and industrial production.

Machine Tool Builders’ Association said factory equipment orders increased 17.4% in December. The strength surprised many analysts and lifted the production outlook for the year at many brokerage houses.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 1% to 8,550.58 and the broader Topix index increased 0.5% to 734.98.

The yen closed near 11-year high against the euro at 97.04.

Trading volume on the Tokyo Stock Exchange increased to 2.36 billion shares from 1.76 billion shares on Tuesday.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor closed down 12 yen to 2,584 yen and Honda Motor Co. fell 4 yen at 2,563 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd decreased 8 yen to 694 yen. Suzuki Motor Corp fell 24 yen to 1,576 yen.

Sony Corp increased 11 yen to 1,304 yen, Panasonic Corp rose 9 yen at 620 yen and Canon Inc closed up 15 yen to 3,320 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd decreased 270 yen to 10,090 yen.

Olympus Corp increased 49 yen to 1,205 yen.

Nikon Corp added 31 yen to 1,727 yen, Fanuc Ltd closed up 500 yen to 12,470 yen and Kyocera added 190 yen to 6,260 yen. Casio Computer Co., Ltd decreased 1 yen to 437 yen.

Elpida Memory Inc added 20 yen to 324 yen, Ulvac, Inc added 15 yen to 961 yen and Renesas Electronics Corp increased 19 yen to 454 yen.

Elpida is in talks with its lenders and is looking to reschedule its payments to its suppliers and arrange prepayments from its customers. The Yomiuri newspaper reported that the company may seek capital with the U.S. based Micron Technology.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd increased 5 yen to 257 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd added 1 yen to 127 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. increased 1 yen to 177 yen.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc increased 16 yen to 221 yen after the company said it will increase electricity rates 17% for its business customers to account for higher cost of electricity from thermal sources.

Fast Retailing Co. increased 230 yen to 14,980 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd increased 5 yen to 365 yen.

Ms&Ad Insurance Group Holdings, Inc closed up 16 yen to 1,432 yen and NKSJ Holdings Inc increased 14 yen to 1,471 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group declined 1 yen to 328 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group closed flat at 2,221 yen.

Inpex Corp added 1.7% to 517,000 yen and Japan Petroleum increased 105 yen to 3,260 yen.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co increased 40 yen to 1,419 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp decreased 1 yen to 302 yen.

Softbank Corp closed down 27 yen at 2,075 yen, KDDI decreased 0.9% to 483,000 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc closed down 0.8% to 136,500 yen.