Nikkei in Tokyo Turns Negative for the Year

Nigel Thomas
25 Jul, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo traded lower and the Nikkei index fell to its lowest in the year. The index is down 1.1% in the year so far on the worries that a new round of economic stimulus in the U.S. may strengthen the yen. Tech stocks declined after Apple earnings were below expectations.

[R]7:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo traded lower and the Nikkei index fell to its lowest in the year. The index is down 1.1% in the year so far on the worries that a new round of economic stimulus in the U.S. may strengthen the yen. Tech stocks declined after Apple earnings were below expectations.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo declined sharply and the benchmark indexes turned negative for the year.

Stocks were lower on the toxic mix of weak summer trading volume, rising uncertainties in the euro zone and the growing worries that third round of economic stimulus in the U.S. will only strengthen the yen.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 122.19 or 1.4% to 8,365.90 and the broader Topix index slipped 11.21 or 1.6% to 706.46.

The euro edged higher to 94.33 yen and held firm against the dollar below 79.

Stock Movers

Toyota Motor dropped 63 yen to 2,817 yen, Honda Motor Co. declined 56 yen to 2,362 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd slumped 18 yen to 699 yen.

Printer makers were lower for the second day this week after the U.S. based Lexmark reported weak sales a day after Xerox cited weakness in the European markets.

Canon Inc slid 0.9% to 2,678 yen. , Seiko Epson Corp tumbled 7.5% to 568 yen and Ricoh Co Ltd plunged 5.5% to 502 yen.

Sony Corp declined 48 yen or 5.2% to 870 yen and Panasonic Corp dropped 28 yen or 5.5% to 482 yen. Toshiba plunged 19 yen or 7.3% to 242 yen. Olympus Corp slumped 32 yen to 1,277 yen and Nikon plummeted 92 yen or 4.2% to 2,108 yen.

The equipment makers fell after the IMF warned that Chinese economy faces substantial downside risk as the government relies heavily on the infrastructure investments.

Fanuc Ltd declined 330 yen to 12,040 yen, Komatsu Ltd dropped 51 yen to 1,620 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co plummeted 51 yen to 1,263 yen.

Toshiba plunged 7.3% to 242 yen and traded at a 3-year low and a day ago the technology company said it will cut production of flash memory by 30% on weak demand for storage devices.

The weakness in the growth of Apple iPhone also dragged technology stocks. Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd, Seiko Epson Corp and Ibiden Co Ltd also fell more than 3%.

Sharp Corp tumbled 10% or 29 yen to a 34-year low of 260 yen.

Yamada Denki closed unchanged at 3,685 yen. Nitori Holdings Co closed up 0.1% to 7,500 yen, apparel retailer Shimamura increased 1.2% to 9,130 yen and Sagami Co slipped 4 yen to 95 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. slumped 70 yen to 15,770 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd slid 7 yen to 385 yen.

Kajima Corp decreased 7 yen to 210 yen and Taisei Corp slid 4 yen to 206 yen. Sekisui House Ltd fell 0.5% to 742 yen and Daito Trust Construction Co Ltd down 0.1% to 7,660 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd slipped 8 yen to 258 yen and Mitsui Fudosan decreased 16 yen to 1,416 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. slumped 15 yen to 1,803 yen.

Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc plummeted 27 yen to 619 yen and Tokyo Electric Power fell 3 yen to 127 yen.

Inpex Corp slid 3.3% to 425,500 yen and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. plummeted 103 yen to 2,834 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd decreased 5 yen to 222 yen; Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd slumped 6 yen to 103 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. declined 9 yen or 5.3% to 161 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group slid 5 yen to 353 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 16 yen to 2,368 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc decreased 7 yen to 245 yen.

Tokio Marine plummeted 4.7% to 1,724 yen and Mito Securities fell 1.5% to 129 yen.

Credit Saison Co Ltd declined 22 yen to 1,700 yen.

Nippon Steel slumped 6 yen to 144 yen and JFE Holdings Inc declined 49 yen or 4.8% to 969 yen.