Nikkei Rally Extend to Fourth Day, Yen Trends Lower

Nigel Thomas
16 Mar, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo rallied for the fourth day in a row as the yen hovered near the 11-month low. Freight shipping companies gained after the rate index jumped and automotive tire makers declined after the natural rubber industry association forecasted a shortage.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo rallied for the fourth day in a row as the yen hovered near the 11-month low. Freight shipping companies gained after the rate index jumped and automotive tire makers declined after the natural rubber industry association forecasted a shortage.[/R]

Stocks rallied in Tokyo for the fourth day in a row as investors warm up to a large number of newly launched equity trusts that include a basket of stocks.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.06% to close at 10,129.83 and the broader Topix index increased 0.3% to 866.73.

The dollar eased to 83.56 after trading at 11-month high to 84.18 yen.


The latest surge in stocks is driven in part by the new appetite of investors to include a basket of stocks in a trust.

The average of 13 billion yen poured in newly formed trusts every month in 2011 and the flow is expected to soar to 88 billion yen in the current month according to a research note from Nomura.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor closed down 5 yen at 3,580 yen and Honda Motor Co. decreased 20 yen to 3,275 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd fell 1 yen to 887 yen.

Automotive tires markets declined after the Associations of Natural Rubber Producing Countries estimated shortage of natural rubber as demand from China and India improve.

Yokohama Rubber Co. decreased 1.2% to 583 yen and Bridgestone Corp fell 1% to 2,050 yen.

Electronics exporters continued the advance after the yen reached traded near 11-month low against the dollar.

Sony Corp increased 10 yen to 1,832 yen, Panasonic Corp gained 16 yen to 772 yen and Canon Inc closed up 25 yen to 3,970 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd soared 180 yen to 12,550 yen.

Olympus Corp increased 41 yen to 1,354 yen, Nikon increased 22 yen to 2,465 yen and Fanuc Ltd closed unchanged to 15,200 yen

Hitachi Ltd increased 2.5% to 501 yen after the company revised its earnings outlook up 20% to 490 billion yen in the current fiscal year on higher-than-expected gain from the sale of its hard disk drive business.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd increased 10 yen to 383 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed up 6 yen to 181 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. added 15 yen to 267 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. dropped 200 yen to 17,710 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed down 2 yen to 432 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group increased 6 yen to 439 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group increased 21 yen to 2,886 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc rose 4 yen to 404 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd fell 2 yen to 350 yen and Mitsui Fudosan decreased 4 yen to 1,656 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. increased 15 yen to 2,032 yen.

Komatsu Ltd soared 41 yen to 2,437 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co increased 37 yen to 1,902 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp closed up 2 yen at 367 yen.

Nippon Steel rose 2 yen to 241 yen and JFE Holdings Inc increased 0.6% or 11 yen to 1,825 yen.

Softbank Corp decreased 15 yen to 2,449 yen, KDDI Corp closed down 0.9% to 543,000 yen and NTT DoCoMo, Inc closed down 200 yen to 141,000 yen.