Nikkei Surges 1.2%, Lower House Approves Kuroda

Hiruki Nakamura
14 Mar, 2013
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo advanced after the lower house of Parliament approved the three nominees to lead the Bank of Japan. Foreign investors added Japanese stocks at the fastest pace last week since the record keeping began in 2005. Kubota gained after the company cited higher sales on weaker yen.

[R]5:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo advanced after the lower house of Parliament approved the three nominees to lead the Bank of Japan. Foreign investors added Japanese stocks at the fastest pace last week since the record keeping began in 2005. Kubota gained after the company cited higher sales on weaker yen.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo jumped after the lower house of lawmakers approved the new executive team of three to lead the Bank of Japan.

The lower house of parliament approved Kuroda as the next governor of Bank of Japan and Haruhiko Kikuo Iwata and Hiiroshi Nakaso for deputy governor positions.

Ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has a majority in the lower house but lacks the needed majority votes in the upper house where the nominees face a vote tomorrow.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 141.53 or 1.2% to 12,381.19 and the broader Topix Index rose 6.75 to 1,038.17.

The yen edged higher against one dollar to close at 95.19.

Foreigners were net buyers of Japanese stocks at the fastest pace in the week to March 9 since the record keeping began in 2005 by the Ministry of Finance.

The ministry said foreigners added 1.2 trillion yen in the week and purchased net of 5.36 trillion yen in the last 17 weeks.

Stocks in Review

Kubota increased 2.7% to 1,258 yen, record close since Feb 2007 after the company president said a weaker yen will drag sales to a record 1.4 trillion yen next fiscal year.

Toyota Motor Corp jumped 40 yen to 4,950 yen and Honda Motor Co. slipped 15 yen to 3,725 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd fell 7 yen to 992 yen. Yamaha Motor Co Ltd gained 22 yen to 1,285 yen.

Nippon Steel slid 7 yen to 255 yen and JFE Holdings Inc dropped 57 yen to 1,958 yen.

Sony added 3 yen to 1,503. Canon Inc up 20 yen to 3,470 yen and Nikon soared 88 yen or 4.2% to 2,206 yen. TDK Corp rose 5 yen to 3,390 yen.

Nikon Corp climbed 4.2% to 2,206 yen after Ji-Asia Research Ltd lifted its stock rating after the stock dropped 20% on slower than expected sales in China and Europe.

Nintendo Co. Ltd declined 270 yen to 10,550 yen after the company lost a trial in a New York court that alleged the video game company infringed a 3D display technology patent for its handheld 3DS videogame console.

Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co lowered 3 yen to 493 yen.

Seiko Epson Corp dropped 4% to 952 yen after the printer maker lowered its full-year dividend outlook and weaker than expected sales.

Fanuc Corp. increased 120 yen to 14,120 yen and Komatsu Ltd dropped 38 yen to 2,221 yen. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co slipped 22 yen to 1,995 yen.

Softbank Corp closed unchanged at 3,780 yen.

FamilyMart Co Ltd, the convenience chain operator up 10 yen to 3,970 yen and Lawson closed unchanged at 6,660 yen. Ito En Ltd climbed 23 yen to 2,029 yen.

Seven & I Holdings Co fell 15 yen to 2,881 yen. Fast Retailing Co. jumped 750 yen to 30,300 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd gained 17 yen to 653 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group up 5 yen to 580 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group added 15 yen to 4,095 yen. Dai-Ichi Life slid 0.6% to 129,800 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc increased 8 yen to 586 yen.