Nikkei in 5-Day Slump, Automakers Fall

Nigel Thomas
05 Sep, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo closed lower for the fifth day in a row and closed at a five-week low after weak manufacturing and construction data in the U.S. confirmed global economic slowdown. Toyota, Honda and Nissan edged lower after missing U.S. auto sales target in August.

[R]6:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo closed lower for the fifth day in a row and closed at a five-week low after weak manufacturing and construction data in the U.S. confirmed global economic slowdown. Toyota, Honda and Nissan edged lower after missing U.S. auto sales target in August.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo trading declined for the fifth day in a row after the U.S. reported manufacturing declined for the third month in a row and construction spending was below estimated.

In addition, automakers also fell after Toyota, Honda and Nissan reported smaller than expected rebound in unit sales in the U.S. in the August month.

In addition, Chinese industrial growth is expected to fall to 10% this year from 13.9% in 2011 and 15.7% in 2010, according to a joint report by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the China’s Academy of Social Sciences.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 95.69 or 1.1% to 8,679.82 and the broader Topix Index edged decreased 8.60 or 1.2% to 718.09.

Stocks in Review

U.S. auto sales of Toyota increased 46% in August and Honda sales surged 60% from a year ago after two companies rebuilt supply chains and recovered from natural disasters. Nissan sales increased 7.6%.

However, the rebound in sales misses analysts’ targets.

Toyota Motor declined 0.9% to 3,050 yen, Honda Motor Co. slumped 23 yen to 2,448 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd decreased 14 yen to 722 yen.

Nippon Steel slid 3 yen to 149 yen and JFE Holdings Inc declined 31 yen to 976 yen. Tokyo Steel Manufacturing added 1 cent at 257 yen.

Canon Inc plummeted 101 yen to 2,463 yen and Seiko Epson Corp slipped 10 yen to 482 yen and Ricoh Co Ltd dropped 25 yen to 584 yen. Sony Corp slumped 27 yen at 863.

Panasonic Corp slipped 13 yen to 522 yen and Toshiba slid 6 yen to 243 yen and Nikon declined 46 yen to 2,076 yen.

Olympus slumped 2.3% to 1,504 yen, Nintendo Co. Ltd plummeted 50 yen at 8,670 yen, Fujitsu slipped 2.2% to 308 yen and Pioneer Corp. decreased 10 yen or 4.5% to 212 yen.

Fanuc Ltd dropped 250 yen to 12,550 yen and Komatsu Ltd slumped 54 yen to 1,475 yen. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co declined 42 yen to 1,258 yen.

FamilyMart Co Ltd, the convenience chain operator plummeted 35 yen to 3,740 yen, Lawson slumped 130 yen to 5,740 yen and Seven & I Holdings Co gained 7 yen to 2,377 yen. Ito En Ltd increased 6 yen to 1,550 yen.

Yamada Denki slipped 85 yen to 3,705 yen. Nitori Holdings Co climbed 80 cents to 7,920 yen, apparel retailer Shimamura slid 20 yen to 8,950 yen and Sagami Co lowered 2 yen to 116 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. dropped 180 yen to 17,900 yen after its apparel chain Uniqlo reported same store sales in August increased 2%.

J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd decreased 7 yen to 390 yen.

Japan Tobacco extended losses for the second day by 1.1% after the health ministry in Russia proposed a new law that bans smoking in public places.

Kajima Corp down 4 yen to 212 yen and Taisei Corp added 2 yen to 213 yen. Sekisui House Ltd slid 4 yen to 733 yen and Daito Trust Construction Co Ltd dropped 30 yen to 7,710 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd slipped 3 yen to 260 yen and Mitsui Fudosan lowered 4 yen to 1,458 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. decreased 21 yen to 1,907 yen.

Chubu Electric added 2.4% to 909 yen after the electric utility company announced a full-year dividend of 50 yen a share and estimated first-half loss to decline 79% to 4 billion yen.

Inpex Corp slumped 2.2% to 428,500 yen and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. plummeted 93 yen to 2,881 yen. Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. slid 2 yen to 123 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd decreased 9 yen to 186 yen and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed down 4 yen to 94 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. slipped 6 yen to 152 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group down 7 yen to 351 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group declined 48 yen to 2,373 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc slid 4 yen to 260 yen.

Tokio Marine dropped 15 yen to 1,851 yen and Mito Securities slipped 4 yen to 135 yen.

Credit Saison Co Ltd climbed 24 yen to 1,842 yen.