Nikkei in Tokyo Gains, Canon Cuts Annual Outlook on Falling Camera Sales

Hiruki Nakamura
24 Oct, 2013
New York City

Market indexes in Tokyo advanced and the yen edged up a fraction. Canon Inc declined after it lowered annual earnings outlook and sales in the camera division are likely to fall more than expected. Nissan Motor issued a worldwide recall of sports utility vehicles.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Market indexes in Tokyo advanced and the yen edged up a fraction. Canon Inc declined after it lowered annual earnings outlook and sales in the camera division are likely to fall more than expected. Nissan Motor issued a worldwide recall of sports utility vehicles.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo advanced and investors focused on earnings of exporters and banks.

Canon Inc was the latest casualty of falling sales and shrinking margins as more consumers prefer to purchase smart phone with built-in camera.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 60.36 or 0.4% to 14,486.41 and the Topix rose 7.37 to 1,203.35.

The yen edged up to 97.40 against one dollar and gained against all major 16 currencies.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp rose 10 yen to 6,330 yen and Honda Motor Co. added 25 yen to 3,875 yen.

Nissan Motor Co Ltd gained 9 yen to 997 yen and the automobile company recalled 188,302 sport utility vehicles worldwide.

Sony dropped 24 yen to 1,872 yen.

Softbank Corp jumped 170 yen to 7,770 yen and Fast Retailing Co. declined 200 yen to 33,300 yen.

Canon Inc slid 0.2% to 3,130 yen after the camera maker lowered its annual full-year operating profit forecast to 360 billion yen from previous guidance of 380 billion yen.

The company expects to sell 8 million interchangeable-lens cameras for the year, lower from the last quarter forecast of 9 million and below last year sales.

The camera and other electronic products maker estimated net income of 240 billion yen or $2.5 billion for the year ending in December compared to previous estimate of 260 billion yen.

Canon Inc has lost about one third of its value from its peak in 2010.

Panasonic Corporation gained 1.5% to 936 yen after the Nikkei newspaper said the electronic appliances maker plans to reduce 7,000 employees in its semiconductor business in fiscal 2014 through March 2015 and may sell some plants.