Nikkei Rises Above 9,000 on Toyota Earnings Outlook

Nigel Thomas
08 Feb, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo gained after Toyota Motor estimated 200 billion profit in the current fiscal year. The Nikkei index closed above 9,000 for the first time in three months on the back of a sustained rise in world market indexes.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo gained after Toyota Motor estimated 200 billion profit in the current fiscal year. The Nikkei index closed above 9,000 for the first time in three months on the back of a sustained rise in world market indexes.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo advanced and the Nikkei index closed above 9,000 for the first time in three months as world markets continue to advance. The market indexes in Europe and in the U.S. have jumped more than 23% in the last five months.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1.1% to 9,015.59 and the broader Topix index increased 1.2% to 782.34.

In trading, 2.48 billion shares changed hands, the new high for the year.

Toyota Motor reported nine month net income declined 57.5% to 162 billion yen or $2.12 billion and revenues fell 10% to 12.88 trillion yen.

The global auto maker also estimated worldwide unit sale of 7.41 million to March, 30,000 units higher than its December forecast and estimated revenues in the full-year period of 18.3 trillion yen.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor increased 5% or 149 yen to 3,135 yen and Honda Motor Co. rose 74 yen to 2,838 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd increased 18 yen to 774 yen.

Toyota reported operating profit increased 51% in the quarter to December to 149.7 billion yen or $1.95 billion. For the year ending in March, the company now estimates operating profit to increase to 270 billion yen or $3.5 billion, a decline of 42% from a year ago.

The auto maker also estimated net income in the current fiscal year of 200 billion yen and plans to introduce 19 new models in the U.S.

In the quarter, net profit declined 13.5% to 80.9 billion yen and the company estimated annual net profit outlook for the year ending in March to 200 billion yen.

Sony Corp increased 29 yen to 1,542 yen, Panasonic Corp rose 21 yen to 657 yen and Canon Inc closed up 50 yen to 3,445 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd closed up 120 yen at 10,120 yen.

Olympus Corp rose 18 yen at 1,261 yen and Fujifilm Holdings Corp closed up 58 yen at 1,861 yen.

Renesas Electronics gained more than 10% after media reports suggested that the company and Fujitsu and Panasonic are in discussion to merge their system chip operations.

Nikon decreased 1 yen 2,062 yen, Fanuc Ltd closed up 140 yen to 13,100 yen and Kyocera rose 40 yen at 6,680 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd increased 6 yen to 335 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed up 5 yen to 162 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. closed up 5 yen to 223 yen.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc decreased 2 yen to 196 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. increased 380 yen to 16,000 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed up 2 yen at 374 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group increased 10 yen to 390 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group closed up 40 yen at 2,582 yen.

Komatsu Ltd decreased 8 yen to 2,190 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co increased 9 yen to 1,528 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp rose 6 yen to 337 yen.

Softbank Corp closed up 53 yen at 2,213 yen, KDDI Corp closed up 2% to 489,000 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc closed down 300 yen to 137,000 yen.