Nikkei Plunges 2.9%, Nomura Net Soars

Hiruki Nakamura
26 Jul, 2013
New York City

Market indexes in Tokyo plunged 2.9% and the yen rebounded. Investors booked profit ahead of corporate earnings. For the week, the Nikkei index declined 3.2%. Nomura Holdings said quarterly profit surged.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Market indexes in Tokyo plunged 2.9% and the yen rebounded. Investors booked profit ahead of corporate earnings. For the week, the Nikkei index declined 3.2%. Nomura Holdings said quarterly profit surged.[/R]

Investors in Tokyo sold stocks ahead of earnings and booked profit and the yen strengthened.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average plummeted 432.95 or 2.9% to 14,129.98 and the Topix dropped 35.26 or 2.9% to 1,167.06. For the week, Nikkei 225 declined 3.2%.

The yen weakened in Tokyo trading to close at 98.54 against one dollar and exporters rebounded.

Nomura Holdings Inc said first-quarter earnings soared on a rally in stock market and higher commissions as trading picked after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Bank of Japan began implementing policy to stem the two-decade old deflation.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp declined 230 yen to 6,150 yen and Honda Motor Co. dropped 105 yen to 3,790 yen.

Nissan Motor Co Ltd slipped 15 yen to 1,097 yen today said its total auto production in June dropped 4.7% to 418,141 units; production in Japan declined 7.9% to 91,919 units and outside of Japan decreased 3.7% from a year ago month to 326,222.

For the first half to June fell 5.6% to 2,410,203 units. Global sales declined 5.9% to 420,296 units and sales in Japan, Europe, and China.

Sony plummeted 74 yen to 2,133 yen, Canon Inc slumped 80 yen to 3,165 yen. Nikon slid 81 yen to 2,080 yen.

Fanuc Corp decreased 330 yen to 14,600 yen and Softbank Corp fell 180 yen to 6,520 yen.

Seven & I Holdings Co dropped 150 yen to 3,700 yen and Fast Retailing Co. declined 1,200 to 35,450 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group slid 31 yen to 628 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 185 yen to 4,600 yen.

JFE Holdings, Inc. plummeted 8.3% to 2,363 yen and the Nikkei newspaper reported many steel users were reluctant to agree to an increase in prices that the company and Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to pay.

Nomura Holdings Inc. dropped 2.8% to 786 yen after the largest brokerage company reported net revenue in the first quarter climbed 16.8% to 431.3 billion yen from 369.3 billion yen. Net income for the quarter surged 65.9 billion yen compared to 1.89 billion yen and diluted earnings per share soared 17.24 yen from 0.50 yen.

For the quarter, income before taxes jumped 113.2 billion yen and total assets under management as of end of June were 42 trillion yen.