Nikkei and Japanese Bond Yields Rise, Yen Eases

Hiruki Nakamura
29 May, 2013
New York City

Nikkei index in Tokyo closed higher as retail investors increased stock exposure and the yen weakened. Life insurance companies gained after 10-year Japanese government bond yield rose to 0.95%.

[R]5:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei index in Tokyo closed higher as retail investors increased stock exposure and the yen weakened. Life insurance companies gained after 10-year Japanese government bond yield rose to 0.95%.[/R]

Market indexes in Tokyo closed higher in volatile trading after a turbulent last week when indexes dropped more than 3%.

Life insurance companies were in focus after 10-year government bond yields increased to 0.95%. Dai-Ichi Life Insurance rose 2% and NKSJ Holdings Inc soared 7.7% after insurer is likely to sell cross-holding in other companies worth $3.6 billion.

The yen edged higher to 102.18 against one dollar after trading as low as 102.35.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average edged up 14.48 to 14,326.46 and the broader Topix Index rose 10.60 to 1,178.87.

The Nikkei is still up 38% for the yea r so far and declined 3.5% in the last week and nearly 15% stocks of the total of 3,700 are trading 25% below its peak in the year.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp slid 10 yen to 6,200 yen and Honda Motor Co. fell 25 yen to 4,010 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd jumped 13 yen to 1,134 yen.

Sony lowered 12 yen to 2,066. Canon Inc down 25 yen to 3,670 yen and Nikon slipped 42 yen to 2,718 yen.

Fanuc Corp. dropped 190 yen to 15,240 yen Softbank Corp rose 110 yen to 5,320 yen.

Seven & I Holdings Co added 20 yen to 3,685 yen. Fast Retailing Co. slipped 750 yen to 37,350 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group up 7 yen to 614 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced 50 yen to 4,195 yen.

Suntory Holdings Limited Japan based private alcoholic beverage maker plan to raise as much as 476 billion yen by listing shares of its non-alcoholic beverage business.

The company reported net sales in the first quarter ending in March rose 4.7% to 40.82 billion yen and net income for the quarter surged nearly five-fold to 4.80 billion yen.