Nikkei Drops 2.3% on Sentiment Reversal, Fast Retailing Plunges 6%

Nigel Thomas
04 Apr, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo dropped sharply and the Nikkei index declined below 10,000 for the first time in three weeks as investor sentiment reversed. Fast Retailing plunged 6% after the largest apparel retailer reported less than expected 5.1% same store sales increase.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo dropped sharply and the Nikkei index declined below 10,000 for the first time in three weeks as investor sentiment reversed. Fast Retailing plunged 6% after the largest apparel retailer reported less than expected 5.1% same store sales increase.[/R]

Tokyo stocks faced barrage of orders in the mid-afternoon and dragged benchmark indexes down 1.3% in less than fifteen minutes of trading. For the day trading was light.

The sharp reversal in sentiments was driven few large orders linked to the unwinding of futures contracts but the sentiment was also weak after the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank offered no additional commitment to revive job market.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 230.40 or 2.3% to close at 9,819.99 and the broader Topix index dropped 15.66 or 1.8% to 835.36.

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.

In trading today, 1.48 billion shares changed hands on the main board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, lower than 1.7 billion on Tuesday.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor closed down 70 yen to 3,485 yen and Honda Motor Co. declined 100 yen to 3,100 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd slumped 22 yen to 878 yen.

Sony Corp dropped 50 yen to 1,657 yen, Panasonic Corp closed down 27 yen at 724 yen and Canon Inc tumbled 75 yen to 3,900 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd dropped 110 yen to 12,240 yen.

Olympus Corp closed unchanged at 1,304 yen, Nikon declined 67 yen to 2,471 yen and Fanuc Ltd closed down 310 yen to 14,600 yen. Hitachi Ltd decreased 2.7% to 536 yen.

Komatsu Ltd slumped 12 yen to 2,371 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co tumbled 54 yen to 1,824 yen and Toyo Engineering Corp closed down 3 yen at 387 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd decreased 13 yen to 351 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd fell 3 yen to 187 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. decreased 6 cents to 256 yen.

Fast Retailing was under pressure after the largest Japanese apparel retailer said same store sales increased 5.1% last month, lower than expected by analysts.

Fast Retailing Co. declined 1,080 yen to 17,800 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed down 13 yen to 442 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group decreased 7 yen to 411 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 42 yen to 2,688 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc slipped 12 yen to 360 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd decreased 9 yen to 318 yen and Mitsui Fudosan declined 44 yen to 1,514 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. tumbled 74 yen to 1,857 yen.

Nippon Steel fell 5 yen to 218 yen and JFE Holdings Inc decreased 2.3% or 41 yen to 1,760 yen.