Nikkei in Tokyo Falls on Domestic Selling, Sanyo Housing Drops 6%

Nigel Thomas
05 Mar, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo traded lower after elevated oil prices dragged resource stocks and domestic investors sell stocks. However, China set the lowest economic growth target in eight years and increased defense spending by 11.2%. Sanyo Housing Dropped 6% on a public offering announcement.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo traded lower after elevated oil prices dragged resource stocks. However, China set the lowest economic growth target in eight years and increased defense spending by 11.2%. Sanyo Housing Dropped 6% on a public offering announcement.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo trading eased after China lowered its growth estimate and the turmoil in the euro zone continued. Investors were uncertain about the fate of the credit default swaps linked to the Greek bonds.

Domestic investors sold stocks ahead of the close of the financial year at the end of the month as investors accelerate profit taking every time the Nikkei index reaches near 10,000.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.8% to close at 9,698.59 and the broader Topix index decreased 0.6% to 832.86.

The dollar traded at 81.21 yen and flirted with a 9-month high of 81.86 yen.

Trading volume declined to 1.92 billion shares on the main section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange with declining stocks leading the gainers by 2 to 1.

China lowered its growth target in the current year to 7.5% and inflation estimate at 4%. In a speech Premier Wen Jiabao in his opening remarks at National People’s Congress also promised to create nine million jobs in small towns and cities and increase 11.2% its defense spending to $100 billion to be able to win “local wars.”

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor closed down 10 yen at 3,305 yen and Honda Motor Co. declined 40 yen to 3,050 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd decreased 8 yen to 810 yen.

Sony Corp decreased 58 yen to 1,691 yen, Panasonic Corp fell 16 yen to 726 yen and Canon Inc closed up 5 yen to 3,725 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd declined 330 yen to 11,490 yen.

Olympus Corp decreased 73 yen to 1,256 yen and the local newspaper Mainichi newspaper said that former executives including ex-chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa are expected to be arrested as early as today.

Nikon decreased 39 yen to 2,135 yen and Fanuc Ltd rose 50 yen to 14,700 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd closed up 7 yen to 362 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed down 1 yen to 183 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. fell 7 yen to 239 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. rose 230 yen to 17,080 yen and same store sales increased 1.2% in February at stores open at least a year. J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed unchanged at 420 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group closed down 2 yen to 413 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group decreased 13 yen at 2,714 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc decreased 5 yen to 373 yen.

Sanyo Housing Nagoya Co. dropped 5.7% to 73,400 yen after the custom home builder said it plans to raise as much as 1.05 billion yen in a public offering according to a regulatory filing.

Komatsu Ltd decreased 23 yen to 2,349 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co rose 5 yen to 1,707 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp closed down 9 yen to 349 yen.

Softbank Corp fell 22 yen to 2,432 yen, KDDI Corp closed up 0.2% to 527,000 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc closed up 2,200 yen to 141,500 yen.