Nikkei at 3-month High; Toyota, Elpida, Olympus in Focus

Nigel Thomas
24 Jan, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Japan traded higher and the benchmark index Nikkei traded at a 3-month high. Sony is expected to announce a stake in Olympus as early as next week that may lead to a business alliance. Elpida is expected to be a part of a three way merger with the U.S based Micron.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan traded higher and the benchmark index Nikkei traded at a 3-month high. Sony is expected to announce a stake in Olympus as early as next week that may lead to business alliance between the two companies. Elpida is expected to be a part of a three way merger with the U.S based Micron Technology.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo trading rose and the benchmark Nikkei index gained to a 3-month high on the earnings optimism.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 19.43 to 8,785.33 and the broader Topix index increased 0.2% to 756.79.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor increased 73 yen to 2,793 yen and Honda Motor Co. fell 2 yen at 2,671 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd increased 4 yen to 721 yen.

Suzuki Motor Corp rose 40 yen to 1,685 yen and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd estimated higher sales and earnings in the next financial year after it reported 64% decline in profit in the quarter to December.

Auto stocks were in favor on the hopes that the U.S. sales of Toyota are likely to rebound after a difficult year on the supply chain problems linked to Thai floods and earthquake in Japan.

Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co fell 4.2% to 596 yen after the company said it held its steel prices for February delivery.

Sony Corp decreased 34 yen to 1,388 yen, Panasonic Corp fell 4 yen at 640 yen and Canon Inc closed down 20 yen to 3,410 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd increased 60 yen to 10,700 yen.

Olympus Corp closed down 9 yen at 1,288 yen and media reports suggest that Sony is considering to taking between 20% and 30% stake in the company and proposing a business alliance.

Nikon Corp added 2 yen to 1,804 yen, Fanuc Ltd closed up 30 yen to 12,980 yen and Kyocera rose 40 yen to 6,550 yen. Casio Computer Co., Ltd decreased 5 yen to 462 yen. TDK Corp increased 5 yen to 3,595 yen.

Elpida Memory Inc added 16 yen to 367 yen, Ulvac, Inc fell 29 yen to 1,070 yen and Renesas Electronics Corp decreased 12 yen to 495 yen.

Elpida added nearly 3% on the hopes that the company will soon announce a plan to merge its operations with the U.S. based Micron Technology and Taiwan based Nanya Technology.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd increased 2 yen to 277 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd added 5 yen to 142 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. increased 4 yen to 196 yen.

Inpex Corp gained 2.2% to 517,000 yen after the Switzerland based refiner Petroplus filed for insolvency and U.S. Virgin Island based refinery controlled by Amerada Hess was shut down. Also, European Union is closer to banning imports of crude oil from Iran that may disrupt supply from the Middle East.

Construction industry companies were in focus again after Yurtec lifted its annual earnings outlook on reconstruction projects in the areas stricken by the earthquake.

Kajima Corporation decreased 1 yen to 260 yen and Obayashi Corp fell 2 yen to 369 yen. Tobishima Corp fell 3 yen to 128 yen. Japan Bridge rose 18% or 150 yen to 944 yen.

Yurtec Corp increased 3.3% to 413 yen after the company lifted its full-year earnings outlook by 18% to 2 billion yen.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc decreased 6 yen to 207 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. increased 380 yen to 15,100 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed flat at 377 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group added 2 yen to 357 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group closed up 12 yen at 2,409 yen.

Komatsu Ltd increased 1% to 2,113 yen and the company canceled 15.6 million or 1.6% of its shares according to a filing with the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co decreased 8 yen to 1,481 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp increased 2 yen to 315 yen.

Softbank Corp closed down 36 yen at 2,203 yen, KDDI Corp increased 0.4% to 484,500 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc closed up 0.6% to 138,800 yen.