Volatility in Tokyo Trading Jumps on Thin Volume

Hiruki Nakamura
15 Aug, 2013
New York City

Volatile market indexes plunged in Tokyo in thin trading after finance minister Aso confirmed that corporate tax rate is not likely to be overhauled. The yen strengthened and trading volume on stock exchanges dropped near the yearly low. Gree soared after quarterly results.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Volatile market indexes plunged in Tokyo in thin trading after finance minister Aso confirmed that corporate tax rate is not likely to be overhauled. The yen strengthened and trading volume on stock exchanges dropped near the yearly low. Gree soared after quarterly results.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo closed lower after comments from finance minister dashed hopes of corporate tax rate cut paired with an increase in sales tax.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 297.22 or 2.1% to 13,752.94 and the Topix dropped 19.52 or 1.7% to 1,151.82.

The yen rose 0.6% to 97.53 against one dollar.

Finance Minister Taro Aso said today the latest economic growth data supports the scenario that the economy can support higher sales tax.

He also stressed that Prime Minister Abe did not request the overhaul of corporate tax rate and added that the tax cut would have limited impact on the economy.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp dropped 100 yen to 6,310 yen and Honda Motor Co. slipped 45 yen to 3,810 yen. Nissan Motor Co Ltd fell 16 yen to 1,039 yen.

Sony decreased 32 yen to 1,968 yen and Canon Inc slid 30 yen to 3,115 yen. Nikon rose 32 yen to 1,720 yen.

Fanuc Corp declined 340 yen to 15,090 yen and Softbank Corp slipped 210 yen to 6,240 yen.

Seven & I Holdings Co dropped 85 yen to 3,620 yen and Fast Retailing Co. plummeted 1,100 to 32,100 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 7 yen to 605 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group decreased 40 yen to 4,540 yen.

Gree, Inc surged 12.8% to 963 yen after the mobile gaming provider reported net sales in the fourth quarter ending in June slid 2% to 37 billion yen from 37.8 billion yen a year earlier. Net loss in the quarter swung to 311 million yen mainly due to write-off 10.2 billion yen from loss of assets related to certain titles resulted total extraordinary loss of 6.7 billion yen.

For the year, net sales fell 4% to 152.2 billion yen and net profit plunged 53% to 22.5 billion yen a year ago.

Paid services sales in the year amounted to ¥34.7 billion and advertisement sales declined 25% to 2.2 billion yen.

Kubota Corporation dropped 3.2% to 1,474 yen after the U.S. rival Deere & Co expects U.S. farm equipment revenue in the current year to drop. Kubota collects 25% of its revenue from North America.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd jumped 3.6% to 406 yen on higher ocean freight rates since October 2012.