Nikkei in Tokyo Gains 1.1%; Nikon, Toyota, Panasonic Rise

Nigel Thomas
06 Feb, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo trading gained despite the weak domestic earnings outlook and on the hopes of stronger earnings in the current calendar year. Nikon and Panasonic jumped. Investors digested the decline in the U.S. unemployment rate and another delay in finalizing the Greek debt restructuring.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo trading gained despite the weak domestic earnings outlook and on the hopes of stronger earnings in the current calendar year. Nikon and Panasonic jumped. Investors digested the decline in the U.S. unemployment rate and another delay in finalizing the Greek debt restructuring.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo gained after Toyota estimated higher sales in the current year and U.S. unemployment rate declined for the fifth month in a row.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 1.1% to 8,929.20 and the broader Topix index increased 1.2% to 769.85.

Trading volume on the main board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell to 2.18 billion shares from 2.33 billion on Friday.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor increased 87 yen to 2,986 yen and Honda Motor Co. rose 78 yen to 2,766 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd increased 24 yen to 755 yen.

Toyota Motor estimated sales in the year to rise 21%.

Sony Corp increased 57 yen to 1,492 yen, Panasonic Corp rose 38 yen to 637 yen and Canon Inc closed up 55 yen to 3,400 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd closed down 20 yen at 10,370 yen.

Panasonic jumped 6% after it estimated net profit in the next fiscal year beginning April after it estimated a record net loss of $10.2 billion in the current year.

Oki Electric soared 14% to 80 yen after it raised its operating profit estimate by 13% to 17 billion yen for the current year ending in March.

Olympus Corp rose 4 yen at 1,260 yen and Fujifilm Holdings Corp closed up 30 yen at 1,815 yen.

Nikon increased 207 yen 2,064 yen, Fanuc Ltd closed up 460 yen to 13,030 yen and Kyocera added 100 yen at 6,660 yen. Tokyo Electron Ltd declined 8% to 4,040 yen after it estimated orders in the current quarter would decline 100 billion yen compared to 150 billion yen in the quarter a year ago.

Nikon soared 11% after it revised its operating profit estimate more than 7% 72 billion yen and doubled its estimate of the net profit for the fiscal year ending in March.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd decreased 2 yen to 322 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed down 1 yen to 155 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. closed unchanged at 213 yen.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc decreased 2 yen to 199 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. increased 370 yen to 15,810 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed up 11 yen at 374 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group increased 6 yen to 375 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group closed up 40 yen at 2,517 yen.

Komatsu Ltd increased 77 yen to 2,205 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co increased 41 yen to 1,539 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp added 7 yen to 332 yen.

Softbank Corp closed down 2 yen at 2,147 yen, KDDI Corp decreased 0.7% to 479,500 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc closed down 600 yen to 136,800 yen.