Tokyo Indexes Rest After 8-Day Rally, Japan Sells Stake in Tobacco Company

Hiruki Nakamura
12 Mar, 2013
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo halted 8-day rally after investors worried of stretched valuations. Japanese government priced its stake sale in Japan Tobacco at 2% discount to the closing price on Monday. Nippon Steel said it will trim production capacity by 7%.

[R]5:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo halted 8-day rally after investors worried of stretched valuations. Japanese government priced its stake sale in Japan Tobacco at 2% discount to the closing price on Monday. Nippon Steel said it will trim production capacity by 7%.[/R]

Tokyo stocks halted a 8-day rally after investors paused on stretched valuations and worried that markets may have advanced too fast too far.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 34.24 or 0.3% to 12,314.81 and the broader Topix Index slid 4.08 to 1,035.90.

The yen edged higher against one dollar to close at 95.89.

Stocks in Review

Japan Tobacco eased 0.7% to 2,990 yen after the government priced its stake sale 2% below Monday’s closing price as a part of 978 billion yen sale to fund rebuilding projects after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the nation two years ago.

Toyota Motor Corp slid 40 yen to 4,960 yen and Honda Motor Co. fell 25 yen to 3,730 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd closed unchanged at 993 yen. Yamaha Motor Co Ltd dropped 27 yen to 1,214 yen.

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp soared after the Nikkei newspaper reported that the company plans to shut its oldest of three blast furnaces and cut production capacity by 7%. The company also plans to increase earnings by 200 billion yen after restructuring and cost cutting.

Nippon Steel climbed 11 yen or 4.4% to 261 yen and JFE Holdings Inc gained 21 yen to 2,007 yen.

Nippon Paint Co declined 5.7% to 852 yen and after the close Wuthelam Holdings Pte Ltd withdrew its takeover offer.

Sony slipped 30 yen to 1,478. Canon Inc jumped 45 yen to 3,550 yen and Nikon advanced 22 yen to 2,053 yen. TDK Corp soared 175 yen or 5.4% to 3,415 yen.

Sharp Corp slumped 2.3% after Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd is not expected to meet the March 26 deadline for investment. The news was first published by Asahi newspaper.

Nintendo Co. Ltd declined 210 yen to 10,570 yen. Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co increased 10 yen to 487 yen.

Fanuc Corp. slumped 50 yen to 14,360 yen and Komatsu Ltd up 5 yen to 2,296 yen. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co decreased 28 yen to 2,064 yen.

Softbank Corp climbed 50 yen to 3,795 yen.

FamilyMart Co Ltd, the convenience chain operator rose 15 yen to 3,970 yen and Lawson dropped 100 yen to 6,850 yen. Ito En Ltd added 4 yen to 2,018 yen.

Seven & I Holdings Co decreased 13 yen to 2,963 yen. Fast Retailing Co. slipped 700 yen to 30,200 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd lowered 7 yen to 618 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 3 yen to 566 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group down 40 yen to 4,100 yen. Dai-Ichi Life rose 0.7% to 131,500 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc slid 5 yen to 582 yen.