Nikkei Trims Gains; Yen Trends Lower

Nigel Thomas
26 Mar, 2012
New York City

The benchmark indexes in Tokyo pared gains after banks and utilities trimmed the earlier gains. Resources linked stocks led the upsurge in the morning following a rise in copper and crude oil prices.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – The benchmark indexes in Tokyo pared gains after banks and utilities trimmed the earlier gains. Resources linked stocks led the upsurge in the morning following a rise in copper and crude oil prices.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo rebounded at the opening after falling more than 1% on Friday but came under pressure in the final two hours of the session. Investors were also concerned that the recent rally in stocks may have stretched beyond fundamentals and the yen may be on its way lower.

Mining and resources linked stocks led the gainers and financial services and utilities operators and transportation linked stocks fell.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 6.77 to close at 10,018.24 and the broader Topix index fell 0.71 to 851.82.

The dollar rose to 82.95 yen and traded at a new 2-week high and the euro gained to 109.32 yen from its close on Friday at 108.48.

Stock Movers

Commodities linked stocks were higher after copper and crude oil prices rose in London and New York trading on Friday. Mitsubishi Materials Corp added 1% to 273 yen and Inpex Corp gained 0.9% to 571,000 yen.

Toyota Motor closed up 10 yen to 3,475 yen and Honda Motor Co. decreased 20 yen to 3,160 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd increased 21 yen to 876 yen.

Yokohama Rubber Co. closed up 8 yen to 592 yen and Bridgestone Corp fell 1 yen to 1,992 yen.

Sony Corp increased 10 yen to 1,690 yen, Panasonic Corp closed up 8 yen at 753 yen and Canon Inc closed up 10 yen to 3,880 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd decreased 80 yen to 12,570 yen.

Olympus Corp decreased 11 yen to 1,300 yen, Nikon decreased 11 yen to 2,436 yen and Fanuc Ltd closed unchanged to 15,020 yen. Hitachi Ltd gained 3.4% to 517 yen.

Komatsu Ltd increased 48 yen to 2,392 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co increased 27 yen to 1,822 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp closed down 3 yen at 388 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd unchanged to 357 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed down 1 yen to 174 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. fell 1 yen to 256 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. increased 20 yen to 18,050 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed down 2 yen to 439 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 2 yen to 424 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group decreased 19 yen to 2,809 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc decreased 10 yen to 366 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd decreased 5 yen to 321 yen and Mitsui Fudosan decreased 10 yen to 1,549 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. increased 11 yen to 1,933 yen.

Nippon Steel unchanged to 228 yen and JFE Holdings Inc increased 2.3% or 41 yen to 1,792 yen.