Nikkei Rebounds 1%, Fast Retailing Plunges 9%

Nigel Thomas
05 Jun, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo rebounded in weak trading ahead of a meeting of G7 finance ministers. Fast Retailing Co plunged 9% after it reported May same store sales plunged 10%. Two card board products makers, Rengo and Tomoku dropped after regulators launch price fixing investigation.

[R]8:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo rebounded in weak trading ahead of a meeting of G7 finance ministers. Fast Retailing Co plunged 9% after it reported May same store sales plunged 10%. Two card board products makers, Rengo and Tomoku dropped after regulators launch price fixing investigation.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo rebounded after the benchmark Nikkei declined for four days in a row. Investors pinned hopes on the meeting of finance ministers and central bank leaders later in the day and hoped some action to contain widening contagion in the euro zone.

The benchmark Nikkei index extended losses to 19% from the peak on March 27 and Topix fell more after losing for the nine weeks in a row on Friday.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 86.37 or 1% to 8,382.0 and fell to the s0x month low and the broader Topix index increased 12.73 or 1.8% to 708.24.

Stock Movers

Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc increased 16 yen to 1,092 yen and Tokyo Electric Power fell 4 yen to 160 yen.

Chubu Electric Power gained 3.6%, Shikoku Electric Power Co slides 0.5% and Hokkaido Electric Power fell by 0.1%.

Exporters continued to weaken as euro zone turmoil weaken the markets in Spain and Italy and banks face increasing withdrawals in two nations.

Toyota Motor increased 22 yen to 2,926 yen and Honda Motor Co. gained 49 yen to 2,417 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd added 14 yen to 723 yen.

Sony Corp advanced 33 yen to close at 1,029 yen after dropping below 1,000 yen for the first time in 32 years and Panasonic Corp closed up at 12 yen to 509 yen. Toshiba rose 11 yen to 285 yen.

Canon Inc gained 98 yen to 2,991 yen and said in a statement that it will spend as much as 50 billion yen to buy back up to 1.4% of its shares before the end of July.

Olympus Corp increased 51 yen to 1,331 yen, Nikon closed up at 27 yen to 2,108 yen and Fanuc Ltd advanced 330 yen to 13,220 yen. Hitachi Ltd added 17 yen to 443 yen.

Komatsu Ltd gained 49 yen to 1,802 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co rose 14 yen to 1,406 yen.

Inpex Corp increased 2.4% to 434,500 yen and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. added 100 yen to 2,921 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd rose 10 yen to 259 yen; Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd soared 7 yen or 7.6% to 141 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. added 6 yen to 199 yen.

Nippon Sheet Glass Co Ltd increased 6 yen to 73 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported that the company has no plans to raise capital and may slow production at some of its plants.

Asahi Glass Co Ltd added 13 yen to 516 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. declined 1,550 yen or 8.8% to 16,060 yen after the operator of apparel retail chain Uniqlo said May same-store sales declined 10.3% from a year ago month on lower customer visits.

J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd rose 1 yen to 362 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group added 6 yen to 337 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced 53 yen to 2,296 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc closed up at 10 yen to 252 yen.

Credit Saison Co Ltd gained 25 yen to 1,509 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd increased 16 yen to 249 yen and Mitsui Fudosan advanced 45 yen to 1,286 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. gained 51 yen to 1,555 yen.

Nippon Steel added 4 yen to 165 yen and JFE Holdings Inc advanced 48 yen to 1,223 yen.