Japan Revised Outlook; Exports, Imports Increase in June

Hiruki Nakamura
24 Jul, 2013
New York City

Japan revised its economic outlook for the third month in a row and raised the prospect of higher capital spending for the first time in four months. Exports in June rose 7.4% and imports surged 11.8%. The yen strengthened.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Japan revised its economic outlook for the third month in a row and raised the prospect of higher capital spending for the first time in four months. Exports in June rose 7.4% and imports surged 11.8%. The yen strengthened.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo traded lower after Japanese government revised its view on the economy and exports rose for the fourth month in a row and the yen weakened.

The Cabinet Office in its monthly report revised economic outlook for Japan for the third month in a row and took an optimistic view on capital expenditure for the first time in four months and raised the prospects of higher factory output.

“The economy is steadily picking up” and it is showing “movement towards a self-sustained recovery” and the “the recent price developments indicate that deflation is easing.”

The report did not offer any numeric evidence or a target but only noted trends and changing landscape.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 47.23 or 0.3% to 14,731.28 and the Topix fell 2.78 to 1,219.94.

The yen edged higher in Tokyo trading to close at 99.45 against one dollar and exporters rebounded.

Separately, Japan said exports for the fourth month in June increased 7.4% and imports in rose 11.8% leaving trade deficit of 180.8 billion yen or $1.8 billion.

Shipments to the European Union increased 8.6% from a year ago month, the first increase in 21 months and exports to the U.S. increased 14.6%. Shipments to China rose 4.8%.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp fell 50 yen to 6,430 yen and Honda Motor Co. down 5 yen to 3,905 yen. Nissan Motor Co Ltd gained 6 yen to 1,118 yen.

Sony slid 5 yen to 2,290 yen. Canon Inc rose 10 yen to 3,430 yen and Nikon down 15 yen to 2,268 yen.

Fanuc Corp slipped 50 yen to 15,130 yen and Softbank Corp climbed 160 yen to 6,980 yen.

Seven & I Holdings Co dropped 40 yen to 3,945 yen and Fast Retailing Co. declined 350 to 36,300 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group slid 2 yen to 668 yen.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group decreased 35 yen to 4,860 yen after the bank agree to acquire France based Societe Generale''s private banking business in Japan without mentioning of transaction amount.

Nidec Corporation surged 10% to 8,130 yen after the motors and battery maker reported net sales in the first quarter climbed 18% to 211.2 billion yen. Net income for the period edged up to 13.3 billion yen compared to 13.2 billion yen for the same quarter of last year.

The company lifted financial outlook for the first-half and expects to report net sales of 400 billion yen, revised from 380 billion yen.

For the full-year, Nidec now expects net sales to grow 820 billion yen from earlier forecast of 800 billion yen.