Volatile Nikkei Drops 1.5%; Earnings Focus on Honda, KDDI, Hitachi, Takara

Hiruki Nakamura
31 Jul, 2013
New York City

In volatile trading indexes closed down for the second day this week and fell 1.3% in the month. Honda Motor net declined. Takara Holdings plunged 10% on quarterly loss. Hitachi Ltd revised its first-half estimate by 50%. KDDI net surged 90%.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – In volatile trading indexes closed down for the second day this week and fell 1.3% in the month. Honda Motor net declined. Takara Holdings plunged 10% on quarterly loss. Hitachi Ltd revised its first-half estimate by 50%. KDDI net surged 90%.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo declined and volatility in trading was near its monthly high as earnings release peaked for the week today.

KDDI. Honda Motor, Takara Holdings and Hitachi Ltd were some of the largest companies in focus after the earnings release.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 201.50 or 1.5% to 13,668.32 and the Topix fell 16.83 to 1,131.70. For the month, Nikkei 225 dropped 1.3%.

The yen gained in Tokyo trading to one-month high to close at 97.33 against one dollar and exporters gained.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp slipped 100 yen to 5,970 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd fell 19 yen to 1,027 yen.

Honda Motor Co. dropped 80 yen to 3,630 yen and auto maker reported revenue in the first quarter climbed 16% to 2.83 trillion yen and net profit declined 7% to 122.5 billion yen compared to 131.7 billion yen a year earlier.

Operating profit for the quarter rose 5% to 185 billion yen and Honda expects sales for the year 12.1 trillion yen and net profit of 580 billion yen and operating profit of 780 billion yen.

Sony declined 49 yen to 2,068 yen and Canon Inc slid 10 yen to 3,025 yen. Nikon slid 44 yen to 2,049 yen.

Fanuc Corp fell 90 yen to 14,860 yen; Softbank Corp lowered 60 yen to 6,240 yen.

Seven & I Holdings Co slipped 50 yen to 3,700 yen and Fast Retailing Co. declined 850 to 33,550 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group slid 8 yen to 601 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group decreased 20 yen to 4,485 yen.

ANA Holdings Inc., formerly All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd. declined 3.3% to 202 yen after the airliner reported revenue in the first quarter jumped 4.4% to 358.3 billion yen from 343.19 billion yen. Net in the quarter swung to a loss of 6.6 billion yen compared to profit of 668 million yen.

The company expects net profit for the year of 45 billion yen and revenue of 1.61 trillion yen.

The airways plan to acquire Florida based Pan Am Holdings, a training services provider valued $139.5 million for pilot training services in the U.S.

Japan Airlines Co. dropped 2.6% to 5,200 yen after the Japan based airline company said revenue in the first quarter grew 2.6% to 294.10 billion yen from 286.74 billion yen. Net profit for the quarter declined 18.34 billion yen compared to 26.94 billion yen a year ago.

For the year, the company affirms its guidance for the net profit of 118 billion yen and revenue of 1.272 trillion yen.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. declined 2.9% to 527 yen after the South Korean court ordered to pay compensation 80 million won or 7 million yen for forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule if the Korean peninsula.