Nikkei in Tokyo Drifts Lower Ahead of BoJ Meeting

Hiruki Nakamura
10 Jul, 2013
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo traded lower after weak trade data from China and stoked global economic slowdown worries. Bank of Japan began its two-day meeting today. Aeon Co, the operator of supermarket chain reported first quarter sales increased 10% and earnings advanced.

[R]5:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo traded lower ahead of Bank of Japan meeting and weak trade data from China. Aeon Co, the operator of supermarket chain reported first quarter sales increased 10% and earnings advanced.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo traded lower after weak trade data from China highlighted falling trade activities around the world and in one of the main export markets for Japanese goods.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 56.30 or 0.4% to 14,416.60 and the Topix edged down 1.69 to 1,195.20.

The yen edged higher in Tokyo trading for the second day to close at 100.09 against one dollar and exporters took a hit in Tokyo trading.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp slid 20 yen to 6,390 yen Honda Motor Co. fell 35 yen to 3,810 yen. Nissan Motor Co Ltd lowered 2 yen to 1,088 yen.

Sony slipped 16 yen to 2,187 yen. Canon Inc closed unchanged at 3,380 yen and Nikon down 11 yen to 2,314 yen.

Fanuc Corp dropped 150 yen to 14,760 yen and Softbank Corp rose 20 yen to 5,760 yen.

Seven & I Holdings Co added 5 yen to 3,945 yen and Fast Retailing Co. declined 450 to 38,000 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 1 yen to 653 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group fell 30 yen to 4,745 yen.

Aeon Co., Ltd. jumped 1.4% to 1,398 yen after the supermarket chain reported revenue in the first quarter ending in May climbed 9.9% to 1.46 trillion yen from 1.33 trillion yen a year earlier. Net income in the quarter rose 0.8% to 13.17 billion yen compared to 13.07 billion yen and diluted earnings per share added 15.44 yen from 14.89 yen.

The retailer said operating profit for the quarter soared 9.8% to 34.72 billion.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc slid 0.9% to 662 yen after it found highly (90-fold) radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is seeping into the ground and contaminating the Pacific Ocean.