Nikkei Trends Lower as Yen Climbs to 3-week High

Nigel Thomas
03 Apr, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo edged lower and declined in six of the last ten sessions. The yen strengthened to a 3-week high as Japanese multinationals repatriate profits to rebuild domestic operations.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo edged lower and declined in six of the last ten sessions. The yen strengthened to a 3-week high as Japanese multinationals repatriate profits to rebuild domestic operations.[/R]

Market sentiment in Tokyo trading was weak as the yen rose to a 3-week high and investors took profit. The two widely followed indexes declined 0.6% but the benchmark Nikkei closed above 10,000.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average decreased 59.48 or 0.6% to close at 10,050.39 and the broader Topix index fell 5.03 or 0.6% to 851.02.

The dollar closed at 81.93 yen after trading at a 3-week low of 81.55 today and the strength in the yen is dictating the stock market moves. The

In trading today, 1.7 billion shares changed hands on the main board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, lower than 2.16 billion on Monday but above the average of 1.98 billion shares last week.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor closed down 11 yen to 3,555 yen and Honda Motor Co. decreased 10 yen to 3,200 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd rose 2 yen to 900 yen.

Sony Corp dropped 10 yen to 1,707 yen, Panasonic Corp closed down 17 yen at 751 yen and Canon Inc decreased 15 yen to 3,975 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd declined 220 yen to 12,350 yen.

Olympus Corp rose 1 yen to 1,304 yen, Nikon fell 1 yen to 2,538 yen and Fanuc Ltd closed down 60 yen to 14,910 yen. Hitachi Ltd edged up 0.1% to 551 yen.

Komatsu Ltd decreased 4 yen to 2,383 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co fell 2 yen to 1,878 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp closed up 3 yen at 390 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd decreased 5 yen to 364 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed down 3 yen to 190 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. decreased 6 cents to 262 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. soared 150 yen to 18,880 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed down 1 yen to 455 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group decreased 8 yen to 418 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 40 yen to 2,730 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc fell 3 yen to 372 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd decreased 7 yen to 327 yen and Mitsui Fudosan dropped 37 yen to 1,558 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. increased 71 yen to 1,931 yen.

Nippon Steel unchanged to 223 yen and JFE Holdings Inc gained 0.8% or 15 yen to 1,801 yen.