Japanese Stocks Trade Lower; Softbank Wins License

Nigel Thomas
01 Mar, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo edged lower for the second day in a row after the yen softened and capital spending rose 7.6% in the December quarter. Softbank won a new spectrum license to expand data services.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo edged lower for the second day in a row after the yen softened and capital spending rose 7.6% in the December quarter. Softbank won a new spectrum license to expand data services.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo traded lower for the second day in a row after companies increased capital spending in the last quarter. However, the softer yen and the second liquidity installment in Europe also impacted trading activities.

Market sentiment was also affected by the ease in world commodities prices and manufacturing expansion in China in February.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.2% to close at 9,707.27 and the broader Topix index fell 0.5% to 831.54.

The dollar traded at 81.14 yen and flirted with a 9-month high of 81.66 yen.

Japanese companies increased capital spending 7.6% in the quarter to December, higher than expected by economists.

The purchasing managers’ index in China increased to 51 in February from 50.5 in January according to the data released the nation’s statistics bureau. The third monthly increase in a row was driven by rising exports.

Stock Movers

Advantest Corp rebounded 2.3% to 1,146 yen and Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd added 15 yen to 4,355 yen. Sumco Corp, the computer chip wafer maker increased 13 yen to 874 yen and Tokyo Electron Limited closed unchanged at 4510 yen.

Toyota Motor closed down 20 yen at 3,335 yen and Honda Motor Co. fell 5 yen to 3,090 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd decreased 5 yen to 827 yen.

Sony Corp increased 4 yen to 1,741 yen, Panasonic Corp fell 7 yen to 752 yen and Canon Inc closed up 25 yen to 3,705 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd declined 90 yen to 12,000 yen.

Olympus Corp decreased 35 yen to 1,324 yen, Nikon decreased 17 yen to 2,184 yen and Fanuc Ltd fell 40 yen to 14,690 yen.

TDK Corp gained 0.6% to 4,265 yen after the company said it repurchased 2.4% of its outstanding shares.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd closed down 4 yen to 370 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed unchanged at 171 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. fell 3 yen to 239 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. rose 130 yen to 16,960 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed down 3 yen to 407 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group decreased 5 yen to 415 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group declined 34 yen at 2,723 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc decreased 6 yen to 369 yen.

Machinery makers gained after China reported expansion in manufacturing for the third month in a row in February.

Komatsu Ltd decreased 68 yen to 2,354 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co decreased 21 yen to 1,678 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp closed down 7 yen at 347 yen.

Softbank Corp rose 48 yen at 2,469 yen, KDDI Corp closed up 1.2% to 522,000 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc closed up 700 yen to 139,500 yen.