Nikkei in 3-day Losses; Nippon Glass, Mitsubishi Electric Drop

Nigel Thomas
30 Jan, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo edged lower and the yen strengthened ahead of the EU summit. Exxon agreed to sell its stake in the crude oil refinery TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK for nearly $3.9 billion. Advantest surged on profit forecast and Nippon Electric Glass declined on a sharp drop in earnings.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo edged lower and the yen strengthened ahead of the EU summit. Exxon agreed to sell its stake in the crude oil refinery TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK for nearly $3.9 billion. Advantest surged on profit forecast and Nippon Electric Glass declined on a sharp drop in earnings.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo trading declined and the yen advanced against the dollar. Exporters were on the defensive on the ongoing turmoil ahead of the European leaders meeting later in the day in Brussels and Greek debt restructuring.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.5% to 8,793.05 and the broader Topix index decreased 0.5% to 757.01.

The yen declined to 76.65 against one dollar and fell to 101.56 against one euro to 101.56.

Exxon Mobil Corp. decided to sell back its stake in the refinery and sales operations in Japan to TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK in a $3.9 billion deal, as part of restructuring the company's holdings in Japan. TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. declined 2% to 733 yen.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor decreased 49 yen to 2,789 yen and Honda Motor Co. fell 7 yen at 2,682 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd decreased 2 yen to 726 yen. Suzuki Motor Corp fell 14 yen to 1,721 yen.

Sony Corp decreased 26 yen to 1,388 yen, Panasonic Corp fell 13 yen at 622 yen and Canon Inc closed down 35 yen to 3,435 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd decreased 100 yen to 10,160 yen.

Olympus Corp closed down 17 yen at 1,259 yen.

Advantest Corp increased 13% to 817 yen after the semiconductor testing equipment maker estimated a profit of 1 billion yen and increased annual dividend estimate to 15 yen from 10 yen a year ago.

Nikon Corp fell 6 yen to 1,861 yen, Fanuc Ltd closed down 190 yen to 12,680 yen and Kyocera rose 140 yen to 6,360 yen. Casio Computer Co., Ltd decreased 14 yen to 457 yen.

Omron Corp dropped 8.6% to 1,522 yen after the company reported nine-month profit halved from a year ago period.

Mitsubishi Electric dropped 15% to 650 yen after the company was barred by the Japanese defense ministry and was accused of overbilling the government. The company is expected to be suspended from bidding from government contracts for at least six months and is likely to be fined at least 3 billion yen according to sources in the defense ministry.

Bulk cargo shipping companies declined after freight rate index in London declined last week and the index is expected to fall further this quarter.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd decreased 6 yen to 285 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd fell 6 yen to 142 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. decreased 4 yen to 191 yen.

Kajima Corporation decreased 1 yen to 257 yen and Obayashi Corp fell 3 yen to 362 yen. Tobishima Corp rose 2 yen to 125 yen. Japan Bridge fell 3.4% or 30 yen to 850 yen.

Nippon Electric Glass Co Ltd declined 10% or 74 yen to 670 yen after it estimated 54% decline in profit to 31.5 billion yen on the fall in demand for TV panel glass and digital camera lenses.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc increased 1 yen to 210 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. decreased 30 yen to 15,000 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed up 1 yen at 372 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group increased 1 yen to 352 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group closed up 6 yen at 2,389 yen.

Komatsu Ltd increased 1.4% to 2,128 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co added 7 yen to 1,468 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp decreased 3 yen to 317 yen.

Softbank Corp closed down 49 yen at 2,181 yen, KDDI Corp increased 0.6% to 497,500 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc closed down 1.6% to 136,800 yen.