Kuroda Confirmation Lifts Nikkei 1.5%, Sony Surges 11%

Hiruki Nakamura
15 Mar, 2013
New York City

Japanese lawmakers confirmed the leadership change at the Bank of Japan. Central Bank is scheduled to begin its two-day meeting on April 3. Nikkei jumped 1.5% and banks and shipping companies led the gainers.

[R]5:30 PM Tokyo – Japanese lawmakers confirmed the leadership change at the Bank of Japan. Central Bank is scheduled to begin its two-day meeting on April 3. Nikkei jumped 1.5% and banks and shipping companies led the gainers.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo traded higher after the upper house of the Parliament approved leadership change at the Bank of Japan proposed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Japanese lawmakers confirmed Haruhiko Kuroda as the next Governor of Bank of Japan. Kikuo Iwata and Hiroshi Nakaso will serve as deputy governors.

Bank of Japan is schedule to hold its next meeting two days beginning on April 3 and economists and traders have built up expectations of renewed emphasis on higher inflation targets and monetary steps to end 15 years of economic stagnation.

Investors have bid up Japanese stocks on the hopes that the new leadership at the central bank will offer more monetary steps to stimulate the economy. Since November, indexes have gained more than 45%.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 179.76 or 1.5% to 12,560.95 and the broader Topix Index advanced 13.48 or 1.3% to 1,051.65.

For the week, the Nikkei jumped 2.3%.

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

AltPlus Inc surged two-fold to 5,680 yen after the company began trading for the first time yesterday.

Shipping companies traded higher after the freight rate index edged up 0.6%. Nippon Yusen K.K. increased 6.4% and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd added 6%.

Toyota Motor Corp gained 70 yen to 5,020 yen and Honda Motor Co. advanced 95 yen to 3,820 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd slid 7 yen to 985 yen. Yamaha Motor Co Ltd climbed 49 yen to 1,334 yen.

Nippon Steel up 2 yen to 257 yen and JFE Holdings Inc fell 6 yen to 1,952 yen.

Tokyo Dome Corp soared 15% to 527 yen after rising 13% in yesterday’s trading after the company said fiscal year earnings soared ten-fold.

Sony surged 165 yen or 11% to 1,668. Canon Inc lowered 10 yen to 3,460 yen and Nikon increased 56 yen to 2,262 yen. TDK Corp jumped 105 yen to 3,495 yen.

Sony surged after Daiwa lifted its view on the stock and Credit Suisse Group AG raised its stock target price to 1,600 yen from 900 yen.

Nintendo Co. Ltd gained 110 yen to 10,660 yen.

Fanuc Corp. climbed 290 yen to 14,410 yen and Komatsu Ltd slipped 8 yen to 2,213 yen. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co gained 7 yen to 2,002 yen.

Softbank Corp rose 10 yen to 3,790 yen.

FamilyMart Co Ltd, the convenience chain operator increased 70 yen to 4,040 yen and Lawson jumped 100 yen to 6,760 yen. Ito En Ltd advanced 55 yen to 2,084 yen.

Seven & I Holdings Co gained 68 yen to 2,949 yen. Fast Retailing Co. rose 100 yen to 30,400 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd climbed 28 yen to 681 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 4 yen to 576 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group slipped 50 yen to 4,045 yen. Dai-Ichi Life lowered 0.6% to 129,000 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc added 2 yen to 588 yen.