Japanes Economy Shrank 0.6%; Tepco Estimates Higher Loss

Nigel Thomas
13 Feb, 2012
New York City

The Nikkei index gained after losses for two days in a row. The GDP in December quarter shrank at 0.6% on weaker than expected exports. Fanuc advanced after the company plans to double its machine tools capacity at a plant near Tokyo. Tepco estimated higher loss.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – The Nikkei index gained after losses for two days in a row. The GDP in December quarter shrank at 0.6% on weaker than expected exports. Fanuc advanced after the company plans to double its machine tools capacity at a plant near Tokyo. Tepco estimated higher loss.[/R]

Stock in Tokyo trading gained on the hopes that economic growth will pick in the next fiscal year after December quarter decline was larger than expected on weak exports.

Japanese economy shrank 0.6% in the quarter to December from the previous quarter and fell 2.3% annual rate on weak exports.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 0.6% to 8,999.18 and the broader Topix index added 0.3% to 781.68.

In trading, 2.05 billion shares changed hands, the new high for the year compared to 2.36 billion shares in Friday’s trading.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor increased 5 yen to 3,065 yen and Honda Motor Co. rose 10 yen to 2,780 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd added 2 yen to 759 yen.

Sony Corp decreased 24 yen to 1,512 yen, Panasonic Corp fell 10 yen to 643 yen and Canon Inc closed up 25 yen to 3,440 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd closed down 40 yen at 10,760 yen.

Olympus Corp closed up 5 yen at 1,282 yen and Fujifilm Holdings Corp closed down 7 yen at 1,821 yen.

Nikon increased 19 yen 2,065 yen, Fanuc Ltd gained 290 yen to 13,210 yen and Kyocera fell 20 yen at 6,650 yen.

Fanuc advanced after a report said that the company is looking to build a new plant near Tokyo to double its capacity to make machine tools that make smartphone parts.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd closed down 4 yen to 335 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed down 3 yen at 163 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. closed up 2 yen to 231 yen.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc increased 1 yen to 201 yen after the government approved additional 690 billion yen or $9 billion support to the troubled utility and demanded a greater voice in the management. The company earlier won 891 billion yen aid from nuclear liability fund for compensation payment.

Tepco after the close said it expects to increase its annual loss to 695 billion yen compared its earlier forecast of 600 billion yen. The utility operator said its fuel cost in nine month to December increased 44% to 1.57 trillion yen.

The company lowered its annual sales outlook to 5.28 trillion yen from 5.32 billion yen and book 312.3 billion yen in special charges including decommissioning charges.

Fast Retailing Co. increased 160 yen to 15,630 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed unchanged at 370 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group increased 2 yen to 387 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group closed up 23 yen at 2,567 yen.

Komatsu Ltd decreased 1 yen to 2,126 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co increased 5 yen to 1,482 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp fell 6 yen to 314 yen.

Softbank Corp closed up 81 yen at 2,382 yen, KDDI Corp closed up 0.8% to 495,500 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc closed down 200 yen to 135,800 yen.

Softbank advanced for the second day on the media reports that the company is the leading contender for the 900 MHZ frequency license auction.