Earnings Season in Japan Accelerate; Alps, Nintendo, SMFG, Softbank in Focus

Haruki Nakamura
31 Jan, 2013
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo closed higher as the earnings season accelerated. Softbank, Nintendo, Sumitomo Mitsui and Alps Electric were among the leading companies to report earnings. December industrial production increased less than expected 2.5%.

[R]5:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo closed higher as the earnings season accelerated. Softbank, Nintendo, Sumitomo Mitsui and Alps Electric were among the leading companies to report earnings. December industrial production increased less than expected 2.5%.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo opened sharply lower after weak U.S. economic data but recovered at close despite weaker than expected increase in industrial production.

Industrial production in December increased 2.5% compared to what economists had expected between 4% and 4.6% gain.

Earnings drove market sentiment. Softbank, Start Today, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Alps Electric were among the companies to release earnings on the busiest day of earnings season.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 24.71 or 0.2% to 11,138.66 after falling as much as 1% in the session. For the month, the Nikkei soared 7.2%, sixth monthly advance in the last one year.

The broader Topix Index rose 5.58 to 940.25.

The yen edged up to 91.05 against one dollar at close.

Stocks in Review

GS Yuasa lowered 2 yen to 326 yen, IHI fell 1 yen to 237 yen and Fuji Heavy Industries increased 16 yen to 1,231 yen. All Nippon Airways Co slid 1 yen to 179 yen.

Toyota Motor Corp. closed unchanged at 4,365 yen and issued a recall of 1.3 million vehicles mostly in the U.S.

Honda Motor Co. jumped 30 yen to 3,505 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd added 4 yen to 936 yen. Mazda Motor Corp slipped 2 yen to 246 yen.

Nippon Steel climbed 12 yen or 4.9% to 253 yen and JFE Holdings Inc soared 90 yen or 4.8% to 1,949 yen.

Shimano Inc jumped 90 yen to 6,190 yen.

Central Japan Railway dropped 1.2% to 8,000 yen after the railroad operator 49% increase in nine-month income.

Sony Corp slumped 21 yen to 1,362, Canon Inc decreased 20 yen to 3,365 yen and Nikon increased 23 yen to 2,611 yen. TDK Corp advanced 70 yen to 3,385 yen.

Nintendo Co. Ltd plunged 480 yen or 5.1% to 8,870 yen and Pioneer Corp. fell 2 yen to 228 yen.

Nintendo declined after it swung to a net profit in the nine-month period and estimated lower full-year sales on the weakness in Wii U console sales.

Fanuc Corp. declined 110 yen to 14,250 yen and Komatsu Ltd slid 2 yen to 2,435 yen. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co climbed 69 yen to 2,099 yen.

Alps Electric soared 10% to 533 yen after the electronics maker said it will cut 3,000 jobs worldwide and estimated a full-year loss.

Softbank Corp climbed 85 yen to 3,260 yen. After the market close Softbank said its nine-month operating profit increased to 600 billion yen.

FamilyMart Co Ltd, the convenience chain operator increased 20 yen to 3,680 yen and Lawson gained 110 yen to 6,630 yen. Ito En Ltd rose 12 yen to 1,777 yen.

Seven & I Holdings Co slid 2 yen to 2,782 yen. Fast Retailing Co. jumped 240 yen to 24,080 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd fell 3 yen to 502 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group advanced 18 yen to 521 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group soared 180 yen or 5.2% to 3,670 yen. Dai-Ichi Life dropped 1.4% to 131,100 yen.

Sumitomo Mitsui increased after it reported net income in December quarter of 219.4 billion yen compared to 97.2 billion yen a year ago quarter. The second largest bank is expected to beat the record annual earnings of 686.8 billion yen in the previous fiscal year.

Nomura Holdings, Inc increased 11 yen to 526 yen on the worries that the stock has run ahead of its fundamentals.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co added 5 yen to 4,700 after winning U.S. clearance for its diabetes treatment drug.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd surged 16 yen or 5.6% to 301 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. gained 7 yen to 219 yen.