Nikkei in a 3-day Slump; Tekken, Miyaji Rise Again

Nigel Thomas
07 Mar, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo eased for the third day in a row and trimmed the gain in the benchmark index in the year so far to 13.3%. The index fell nearly 2% in the last three sessions. Infrastructure developers extended rally for the second day. The yen strengthened but hovered near a 9-month high.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo eased for the third day in a row and trimmed the gain in the benchmark index in the year so far to 13.3%. The index fell nearly 2% in the last three sessions. Infrastructure developers extended rally for the second day. The yen strengthened but hovered near a 9-month high.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo trading declined for the third day in a row as investors focused on the Greek debt swap program and digested weak global economic data.

Global economic outlook is worsening after Australia reported weakest growth since 2008 and Brazil’s economy expanded at 2.7% in 2011 after surging at 7.5% in 2010.

India also lowered its target in the current fiscal year that ends in March and China trimmed its growth expectation to 7.5% from 8%. And the euro zone economy contracted at 0.3% in the last quarter and is expected to shrink in the first two quarters of this year.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.6% to close at 9,576.06 and the broader Topix index decreased 0.6% to 822.71.

The dollar traded at 80.54 yen and flirted with a 9-month high of 81.66 yen and gained against the euro to 105.63.

In trading, stock turnover declined to 2.25 billion shares from 2.5 billion shares on Tuesday.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor closed down 40 yen at 3,245 yen and Honda Motor Co. fell 16 yen to 2,975 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd rose 1 yen to 800 yen.

Exporters were weak on the rising worries that the global economic growth may weaken as oil prices remain at elevated levels.

Sony Corp decreased 40 yen to 1,638 yen, Panasonic Corp fell 8 yen to 703 yen and Canon Inc closed down 40 yen to 3,635 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd declined 160 yen to 11,160 yen.

Olympus Corp decreased 14 yen to 1,286 yen, Nikon gained 14 yen to 2,148 yen and Fanuc Ltd decreased 210 yen to 14,120 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd declined 5 yen to 347 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed down 4 yen to 172 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. fell 1 yen to 232 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. decreased 230 yen to 16,790 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed down 3 yen to 417 yen.

Banks were lower ahead of the Greek debt swap program results late evening tomorrow and only 40% private investors have shown a willingness to participate. Greece has set minimum participation rate of 75%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group declined 4 yen to 404 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group decreased 20 yen to 2,669 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc fell 7 yen to 361 yen.

Komatsu Ltd decreased 27 yen to 2,269 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co decreased 11 yen to 1,648 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp closed increased 1 yen at 350 yen.

Bridge and infrastructure developers extended gains for the second day after the expert panel set up by Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway Co Ltd held its first meeting to upgrade highways and bridges in Tokyo metropolitan area yesterday.

Japan Bridge Corporation soared 3.8% to 459 yen and Miyaji Engineering Group Inc decreased 8.4% to 184 yen and highway contractor Tekken Corp soared 16%

Softbank Corp fell 41 yen to 2,343 yen, KDDI Corp closed down 0.7% to 532,000 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc closed down 1,800 yen to 140,200 yen.