Nikkei in Tokyo Rebounds; Yen Firm Ahead of North Korean Rocket Launch

Marcus Jacob
12 Apr, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Japan halted seven day decline and the yen held firm ahead of the long-range rocket launch from North Korea. Sony and Sharp were in focus for the second day after the revised loss estimates. Freight shipping companies fell on the prospect of lost revenues linked to Iranian oil shipments.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan halted seven day decline and the yen held firm ahead of the long-range rocket launch from North Korea. Sony and Sharp were in focus for the second day after the revised loss estimates. Freight shipping companies fell on the prospect of lost revenues linked to Iranian oil shipments.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo trading gained for the first time after losing for seven sessions in a row. The steady and mild increase lifted stocks of automakers and electronics makers.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 66.05 to 9,524.79 and the broader Topix index gained 4.04 to 809.88.

The yen was firm against the dollar and traded at 80.94 ahead of North Korean missile launch today. The communist nation prepared to launch a long-rage rocket as early as today or in the next five days according to the announcement from Pyongyang.

Foreign investors increase net exposure to stocks by 55.1 billion yen or $680 million according to the data from Ministry of Finance released today.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor closed up 10 yen to 3,330 yen and Honda Motor Co. gained 31 yen to 2,930 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd fell 3 yen to 830 yen.

Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc dropped 18 to 1,292 yen and Tokyo Electric Power fell 3 yen to 204 yen.

Sony Corp increased 13 yen to 1,528 yen, Panasonic Corp closed up 14 yen at 670 yen and Canon Inc rose 5 yen to 3,740 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd tumbled 110 yen to 11,810 yen.

Olympus Corp closed down 5 yen to 1,300 yen, Nikon decreased 8 yen to 2,395 yen and Fanuc Ltd surged 380 yen to 14,600 yen. Hitachi Ltd rose 1 yen to 516 yen.

Komatsu Ltd soared 52 yen to 2,346 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co advanced 70 yen to 1,800 yen after a report in the Nikkei newspaper speculated that annual operating profit in the year to March may increase to 80 billion yen.

Toyo Engineering Corp closed up 5 yen to 368 yen.

Freight shipping companies declined after the industry association cited on its Web site that individual companies will be responsible for any unrecovered oil payments from Iran and the insurance underwritten by the group will not be responsible for reinsurance losses.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd slumped 14 yen to 317 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd fell 4 yen to 170 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. dropped 3 yen to 239 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. soared 260 yen to 17,470 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed down 2 yen to 416 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 2 yen to 388 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group increased 24 yen to 2,627 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc rose 1 yen to 343 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd closed up 3 yen to 304 yen and Mitsui Fudosan decreased 8 yen to 1,450 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. slipped 15 yen to 1,796 yen.

Nippon Steel increased 6 yen to 207 yen and JFE Holdings Inc surged 2.4% or 38 yen to 1,616 yen.