Stocks in Tokyo Halt 4-Day Rally, DeNA Soar 22%

Nigel Thomas
10 Aug, 2012
New York City

Japanese stocks declined and halted a 4-day rally as investors focused on earnings and the latest international trade data from China. The yen gained and Sony said it will acquire its Internet access subsidiary. Social network gaming operator DeNA Co Ltd soared 22% on higher earnings.

[R]7:40 AM Tokyo – Japanese stocks declined and halted a 4-day rally as investors focused on earnings and the latest international trade data from China. The yen gained and Sony said it will acquire its Internet access subsidiary. Social network gaming operator DeNA Co Ltd soared 22% on higher earnings.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo declined for the first time in five days in Friday’s trading after China reported weaker than expected international trade data and the latest batch of earnings showed more weakness in European sales.

China’s Exports in the month rose 1% from a year ago month after rising 11.3% in June. Imports increased 4.7% after advancing at a faster rate of 6.3% in the previous month.

Trade surplus in the month declined to $25.2 billion from $32 billion in June.

The yen strengthened to 78.33 against one dollar and gained to 96.533 against one euro.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 87.16 to 8,891.44 and the broader Topix index decreased 5.05 to 746.79. For the week, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 3.9%.

Stock Movers

Honda Motor Co. declined 61 yen to 2,498 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd decreased 5 yen to 773 yen after U.S. monthly sales increased more than expected.

Nippon Steel closed unchanged at 166 yen and JFE Holdings Inc slid 6 yen to 1,103 yen.

Canon Inc plummeted 64 yen to 2,658 yen, Seiko Epson Corp fell 2 yen to 523 yen and Ricoh Co Ltd closed unchanged at 630 yen.

Sony Corp gained 25 yen at 947.

So-net Entertainment soared 21% to 402,000 yen after the parent Sony said it plans to buy the shares of the Internet access provider for approximately 60 billion yen or $766 million. The subsidiary, M3 Inc also shot up 6.5% or 27,000 to 442,000 yen.

Panasonic Corp added 4 yen to 581 yen and Toshiba closed unchanged at 271 yen.

Nikon slipped 6 yen to 2,080 yen and extended the loss to the third day after it reported weak results and guided weak outlook after the close yesterday.

Sharp soared 9.4% to 209 yen, Nintendo Co. Ltd slumped 20 yen at 8,580 yen and Fujitsu slid 1.3% to 310 yen.

Pioneer Corp. closed unchanged at 198 yen after it lowered its net income growth projection to 15% to 8.5 billion yen.

Fanuc Ltd advanced 100 yen to 12,670 yen and Komatsu Ltd slumped 22 yen to 1,677 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co dropped 27 yen to 1,425 yen.

Yamada Denki surged 7.9% or 315 yen to 4,310 yen despite the electronics retailer reported 74% decline in operating income from a year ago quarter to June.

Nitori Holdings Co advanced 50 cents to 7,540 yen, apparel retailer Shimamura fell 0.4% to 9,060 yen and Sagami Co rose 1 yen to 101 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. plummeted 390 yen to 17,220 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd up 1 yen to 392 yen.

The social game operator DeNA Co Ltd soared 22% or 400 yen to 2,210 yen after it reported higher first quarter operating income of 18.4 billion yen.

Separately, Nexon Co Ltd plunged 25% to 1,235 yen after the online games provider cut its operating earnings outlook by 10% to 47.1 billion yen.

Trend Micro dropped 9% to 2200 yen after the security software developer reported first half operating profit declined 20% to 10.5 billion yen on weak sales in Europe.

Kajima Corp slipped 5 yen to 229 yen and Taisei Corp decreased 7 cents to 217 yen. Sekisui House Ltd slid 6 yen to 735 yen and Daito Trust Construction Co Ltd slumped 20 yen to 7,750 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd down 5 yen to 290 yen and Mitsui Fudosan declined 18 yen to 1,515 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. dropped 56 yen to 1,921 yen.

Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc slumped 15 yen to 663 yen.

Inpex Corp edged up 0.1% to 468,500 yen and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. gained 30 yen to 3,145 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd slid 3 yen to 231 yen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd fell 1 yen to 116 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. lowered 2 yen to 174 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group slipped 7 yen to 367 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group decreased 4 yen to 2,533 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc slid 3 yen to 279 yen.

Tokio Marine gained 7 yen to 1,834 yen and Mito Securities fell 0.7% to 138 yen.

Credit Saison Co Ltd slumped 15 yen to 1,837 yen.