Nikkei Rally Extends to Fourth Day, Yen Edges Lower

Hiruki Nakamura
18 Jul, 2013
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo gained for the fourth day in a row and the yen weakened as investors looked ahead to weekend election results. Toshiba plans to expand its flash memory production. SoftBank trades higher to become the third most valued company in Tokyo.

[R]4:45 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo gained for the fourth day in a row and the yen weakened as investors looked ahead to weekend election results. Toshiba plans to expand its flash memory production. SoftBank trades higher to become the third most valued company in Tokyo.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo gained for the fourth day in a row and exporters were in focus again after the yen weakened.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 193.46 to 14,808.50 and the Topix rose 8.77 to 1,222.01.

The yen edged lower in Tokyo trading to close at 100.32 against one dollar and exporters rebounded.

Market indexes have been on the rebound after plunging 18% from a peak on May 22 on the hopes that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will take decisive steps to pass tougher measures to support economic growth and liberalize labor market.

Investors also took a cautious view of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments to support economic stimulus as long as data supports. Bernanke’s reassurance was welcomed by traders but investors remained uncertain about the time-table to taper monetary stimulus program to purchase $85 billion monthly bond purchase program.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp fell 20 yen to 6,480 yen and Honda Motor Co. added 10 yen to 3,855 yen. Nissan Motor Co Ltd lowered 4 yen to 1,115 yen.

Sony closed unchanged at 2,194 yen. Canon Inc up 10 yen to 3,420 yen and Nikon rose 34 yen to 2,312 yen.

Fanuc Corp increased 140 yen to 15,200 yen and Softbank Corp soared 250 yen or 4% to 6,450 yen.

Seven & I Holdings Co gained 45 yen to 3,985 yen and Fast Retailing Co. climbed 900 to 36,750 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group up 7 yen to 669 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group climbed 105 yen to 4,905 yen.

Sekisui House, Ltd. rose 13 yen to 1,437 yen after the home builder expects sales to rise 7.8% to 1.74 trillion yen or $17 billion in the year ending January from a year earlier and new orders climbed 15% in the first five months ending in June.

Toshiba Corporation jumped 2.3% to 493 yen after the electronics goods maker said it plans to invest 20 billion yen to 30 billion yen on new equipment to manufacture NAND flash memory chips used in smart-phones and other digital gadgets.