Nikkei in 4-day Slump; ANA Hikes Dividend

Marcus Jacob
24 Apr, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo extended losses for the fourth day in a row and the yen strengthened. All Nippon Airways surged after the airline plans to double its annual dividend per share to 4 yen. Shinko Electric Industries lowered its annual loss estimate.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo extended losses for the fourth day in a row and the yen strengthened. All Nippon Airways surged after the airline plans to double its annual dividend per share to 4 yen. Shinko Electric Industries lowered its annual loss estimate.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo trading fell for the fourth day in a row as political uncertainties weighed in Europe and investors preferred to switch to the yen.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 74.13 to 9,468.04 and the broader Topix index fell 5.60 to 803.94.

In trading, stock turnover decreased to 1,530.84 million shares from 1,532.78 million shares in Monday’s trading.

The yen advanced to 80.68 against one dollar after traders increased exposure to the currency after Dutch prime minister resigned and French President Nicholas Sarkozy trailed in the first round of presidential election.

Stock Movers

Utilities companies were in focus for the second day in a row after more than half of Japanese people oppose the restarting of nuclear reactors.

Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc increased 13 yen to 1,219 yen and Tokyo Electric Power rose 2 yen to 199 yen.

All Nippon Airways added 9 yen to 231 yen after the airline revised its net profit and sales estimate for the fiscal year ending in March. The airline lifted its operating profit estimate to 97 billion yen for the business year.

Toyota Motor closed down 5 yen to 3,260 yen and Honda Motor Co. decreased 9 yen to 2,871 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd slipped 5 yen to 831 yen.

Sony Corp slumped 23 yen to 1,330 yen and extended losses for the sixth day in a row after the recently appointed company chief laid out a new restructuring plan.

Advantest Corp increased nearly 6% to after a report in the business daily Nikkei said that smartphone testing equipment shipment increased in the quarter to March.

Panasonic Corp closed up 3 yen at 636 yen and Canon Inc dropped 40 yen to 3,745 yen. Nintendo Co. Ltd declined 180 yen to 11,190 yen.

Olympus Corp closed down 12 yen to 1,240 yen, Nikon surged 28 yen to 2,336 yen and Fanuc Ltd tumbled 120 yen to 14,410 yen. Hitachi Ltd decreased 14 yen to 512 yen.

Shinko Electric Industries Co Ltd added more than 3% after the semiconductor packages maker lowered its estimate of loss for the fiscal year to March to 3.7 billion yen from 5.5 billion yen.

Komatsu Ltd decreased 9 yen to 2,394 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co fell 2 yen to 1,807 yen.

Toyo Engineering Corp closed down 7 yen to 360 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd slipped 5 yen to 314 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd decreased 4 yen to 161 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. closed down at 6 yen to 231 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. tumbled 210 yen to 17,850 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd fell 8 yen to 415 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group slipped 9 yen to 383 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 61 yen to 2,573 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc slipped 9 yen to 336 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd closed down 2 yen to 297 yen and Mitsui Fudosan declined 15 yen to 1,468 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. unchanged to 1,831 yen.

Nippon Steel edged down 2 yen to 200 yen and JFE Holdings Inc slumped 1.3% or 21 yen to 1,576 yen.