Nikkei in Tokyo Down; Nippon Sheet Reports Loss, Sumco Cuts 15% Staff

Nigel Thomas
03 Feb, 2012
New York City

Japanese stocks declined after a set of weak earnings and uncertainty in the euro zone and ahead of the U.S. jobs report. Nippon Sheet Glass and Oji Paper declined weak quarterly performance. Sumco Cop soared after it announced to eliminate 15% of its staff.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Japanese stocks declined after a set of weak earnings and uncertainty in the euro zone and ahead of the U.S. jobs report. Nippon Sheet Glass and Oji Paper declined weak quarterly performance. Sumco Cop soared after it announced to eliminate 15% of its staff.[/R]

Stocks in Japan declined as companies report weaker than expected earnings and awaited the monthly jobs report in the U.S. and the outcome of the negotiations between Greece and international lenders.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.5% to 8,831.93 and the broader Topix index decreased 0.2% to 760.69.

The yen strengthened against the dollar to 76.15.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor decreased 7 yen to 2,899 yen and Honda Motor Co. fell 34 yen to 2,688 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd decreased 3 yen to 731 yen.

Sony Corp increased 107 yen to 1,435 yen, Panasonic Corp rose 7 yen to 599 yen and Canon Inc closed up 65 yen to 3,345 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd closed flat at 10,390 yen.

Sony also reported that its annual loss is likely to exceed 220 billion yen.

Olympus Corp closed down 9 yen at 1,256 yen and Fujifilm Holdings Corp closed unchanged at 1,785 yen.

Nikon decreased 10 yen 1,857 yen, Fanuc Ltd closed down 70 yen to 12,570 yen and Kyocera added 30 yen at 6,560 yen.

Sumco added 100 yen to 675 yen after the maker of computer chip wafers said it plans to eliminate 1,300 staff or 15% of its workforce as the company faces higher materials cost and weak pricing.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd increased 3 yen to 324 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed down 4 yen to 217 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. increased 2 yen to 213 yen.

Nippon Sheet Glass dropped 12% to 132 yen after the glass maker for automobiles and construction industry estimated loss of 3 billion yen in the full year to March.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc decreased 3 yen to 201 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. decreased 30 yen to 15,440 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed down 2 yen at 363 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group increased 1 yen to 369 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group closed down 28 yen at 2,477 yen.

Komatsu Ltd decreased 9 yen to 2,128 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co decreased 16 yen to 1,498 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp decreased 3 yen to 325 yen.

Softbank Corp closed down 81 yen at 2,149 yen, KDDI Corp decreased 1.4% to 483,000 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc closed down 300 yen to 136,200 yen.