Nikkei Falls Second Day, Toshiba Tec and I BM in $850 Million Deal

Nigel Thomas
17 Apr, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Japan fell on international worries for the second day in a row. Toshiba Tec agreed to acquire point-of-sale business from IBM for $850 million. Olympus Corp fell after two executives are said to retain jobs after stepping down the company board.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan fell on international worries for the second day in a row. Toshiba Tec agreed to acquire point-of-sale business from IBM for $850 million. Olympus Corp fell after two executives are said to retain jobs after stepping down the company board.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo fell for the second day in a row on the euro zone worries and China reported a decline in foreign direct investment. Electronics exporters and automakers traded lower and companies linked to the euro zone markets were in focus.

Spain raised 3.2 billion euros in bond auction and yields declined but in Tokyo trading market sentiment was cautious ahead of the auction.

Toshiba TEC Corp., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corp. agreed to acquire IBM''s retail store point-of-sale solutions business for about $850 million.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 5.93 to 9,464.71 and the broader Topix index slipped 0.74 to 803.09.

Asian markets traded lower after foreign direct investment into China dropped for the fifth straight month in March.

Foreign direct investment into China declined 6.1% to $11.76 billion in March from a year ago, the Ministry of Commerce said today. In the first quarter, FDI decreased 2.8% annually to $29.5 billion.

The Reserve Bank of India lowered interest rates by 50 basis points for the first time in three years.

Stock Movers

Toshiba Tec jumped 7% to 327 yen after the company agreed to acquire IBM’s point-of-sale terminal operations business. The news was first reported by Nikkei newspaper.

Toyota Motor closed down 30 yen to 3,240 yen and Honda Motor Co. declined 54 yen to 2,814 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd fell 1 yen to 804 yen.

Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc gained 5 yen to 1,304 yen and Tokyo Electric Power rose 2 yen to 206 yen.

Sony Corp declined 33 yen to 1,397 yen and extended losses for the fifth day in a row after the recently appointed company chief laid out a new restructuring plan.

Panasonic Corp closed up 1 yen at 639 yen and Canon Inc unchanged to 3,700 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd declined 40 yen to 11,170 yen.

Olympus Corp closed down 29 yen to 1,219 yen, Nikon slumped 17 yen to 2,312 yen and Fanuc Ltd dropped 30 yen to 14,570 yen. Hitachi Ltd fell 4 yen to 499 yen.

Two executives who resigned from the board are still employed by the company and will retain their positions according a Bloomberg report.

Shinichi Nishigaki will retain his job as a head of the life science and industrial business and Kazuhiro Watanabe will run the international operations.

Komatsu Ltd declined 37 yen to 2,265 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co slumped 37 yen to 1,715 yen after China reported 8.1% increase in economic growth in the first quarter.

Toyo Engineering Corp closed down 4 yen to 369 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd rose 2 yen to 306 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd fell 1 yen to 160 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. decreased 2 yen to 228 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. declined 90 yen to 18,600 yen a day after the largest apparel retailer lifted earnings outlook. J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd closed up 11 yen to 417 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 2 yen to 386 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 12 yen to 2,631 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc slipped 5 yen to 340 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd closed unchanged to 293 yen and Mitsui Fudosan declined 9 yen to 1,436 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. slumped 19 yen to 1,769 yen.

Nippon Steel fell 3 yen to 203 yen and JFE Holdings Inc dropped 1.8% or 30 yen to 1,571 yen.