Nikkei in 4-day Slump; Nikon Plunges 7%

Nigel Thomas
10 Jul, 2012
New York City

The benchmark Nikkei index in Tokyo fell for the fourth day and wiped off the gains of the month after Chinese international trade data fell short of expectations. Bank of Japan is schedule to release its measures later in the week.

[R]7:00 PM Tokyo – The benchmark Nikkei index in Tokyo fell for the fourth day and wiped off the gains of the month after Chinese international trade data fell short of expectations. Bank of Japan is schedule to release its measures later in the week.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo traded lower for the fourth day in a row after investors focused on the smaller than expected increase in Chinese imports.

Traders welcomed the latest agreement among the euro zone ministers to expedite the lending to Spain and use bailout funds to buy government bonds.

Investors added more positions in the domestic economy linked stocks in the food, retail and pharmaceutical sectors.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average decreased 39.15 to 8,857.73 and the broader Topix index fell 5.33 to 758.60.

The yen traded at 79.73 against one dollar and traded near 100 yen against the euro.

Investors looked ahead to the decision from the Bank of Japan later this week and hopes are high about new measures after the central bank last week reported improving activities in all nine regions of the economy for the first time in three years. The central bank also said post-tsunami domestic demand was strong.

Stock Movers

Nikon plunged 7% after Intel agreed to invest in its competitor as much as $4.1 billion and take 15% stake in the Netherlands based ASML Holding NV.

Sharp declined 4% to 362 yen, 28-year low after it agreed to pay Dell Inc and two other companies to settle a price-fixing suit over its TFT digital business.

Toyota Motor declined 60 yen to 3,095 yen and Honda Motor Co. plummeted 44 yen to 2,577 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd slipped 9 yen to 719 yen.

Sony Corp slumped 27 yen to close at 1,046 yen and Panasonic Corp closed down 8 yen to 610 yen. Toshiba fell 3 yen to 290 yen. Olympus Corp slid 7 yen to 1,283 yen and Nikon plunged 176 yen or 7% to 2,336 yen.

Fanuc Ltd declined 190 yen to 12,550 yen and Canon Inc slipped 10 yen to 3,045 yen.

Machinery makers traded lower after China reported smaller than expected increase in imports. China is also set to release GDP data later in the week.

Komatsu Ltd dropped 65 yen to 1,818 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co plummeted 41 yen to 1,371 yen.

Yamada Denki fell 0.5% to 3,600 yen. Nitori Holdings Co down 0.5% to 7,480 yen, apparel retailer Shimamura rose 0.1% to 9,260 yen and Sagami Co added 2.6% to 119 yen.

Marushohotta Co closed unchanged at 48 yen and Edion Corp slipped 1.2% to 382 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. decreased 20 yen to 15,380 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd rose 2 yen to 417 yen.

Kajima Corp added 2 yen to 232 yen and Taisei Corp closed unchanged at 222 yen. Sekisui House Ltd fell 0.1% to 762 yen and Daito Trust Construction Co Ltd up 0.1% to 7,620 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd fell 3 yen to 278 yen and Mitsui Fudosan decreased 11 yen to 1,473 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. slid 3 yen to 1,858 yen.

Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc slipped 5 yen to 914 yen and Tokyo Electric Power unchanged to 152 yen.

Inpex Corp rose 0.8% to 447,000 yen and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. increased 5 yen to 3,070 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd slipped 9 yen to 267 yen; Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd unchanged to 129 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. fell 4 yen to 203 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group slid 4 yen to 383 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group declined 33 yen to 2,577 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc slipped 9 yen to 272 yen.

Credit Saison Co Ltd closed down 2 yen to 1,697 yen.

Nippon Steel fell 2 yen to 169 yen and JFE Holdings Inc slipped 10 yen to 1,187 yen.