Topix Index at 5-Year High in Tokyo, Yen Slides to 105

Hiruki Nakamura
08 Jan, 2014
New York City

The broader Topix index increased the most in five months and closed at a five-year high. The yen edged lower 0.4% for the second day in a row. Nintendo surged 11% after China lifted a decade-old ban. Seven & I jumped 6%. FamilyMart gained 3%.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – The broader Topix index increased the most in five months and closed at a five-year high. The yen edged lower 0.4% for the second day in a row. Nintendo surged 11% after China lifted a decade-old ban. Seven & I jumped 6%. FamilyMart gained 3%.[/R]

Market indexes in Tokyo advanced the most since September and the Topix index closed at a high not seen since July 2008.

The strength in the market was driven by a rally in retailers and expectations of higher growth in global economy.

The International Monetary Fund plans to increase its outlook for global economic growth according to comments from Managing Director Christine Lagarde in Kenya.

Also, better than expected U.S. trade deficit and stable economic outlook in Europe also contributed to positive sentiment.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 307.08 or 1.9% to 16,121.45 and the Topix index jumped 22.98 to 1,306.23.

The yen closed at 105.05 against the U.S. dollar and extended loss for the second day in a row by 0.4%.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp gained 30 yen to 6,300 yen. Honda Motor Co increased 50 yen to 4,280 yen.

Nissan Motor Co Ltd climbed 39 yen or 4.4% to 935 yen after the automaker plans to open a new engine plant in 2014 in Brazil with a 200,000 engines capacity a year. Nissan plans to invest R140 million.

Sony jumped 25 yen to 1,825 yen and the electronic gadget maker will start distributing games for its PlayStation 4 game console via cloud computing technology this year.

Sony said cumulative sales of the PS4 reached 4.2 million as of December 28. The console will be launched on February 22 in Japan.

Softbank Corp gained 70 yen to 8,990 yen. Fast Retailing Co increased 850 yen to 41,350 yen.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation declined 3.9% to 1,086 yen after the automaker plans to raise up to 241.6 billion yen in a public offering, to use the fund to buy back preferred shares that were held by its four group companies.

Mitsubishi expected to spend as much as 210 billion to buy back the preferred shares.

Nintendo Co., Ltd jumped 10.8% to 15,850 yen after China temporarily lifted a 14-year-old ban on selling video game consoles.

Seven & I Holdings Co soared 6% to 4,480 yen after the supermarket and convenience-store operator said group sales for the nine-month ending in November climbed 13.8% to 4.19 trillion yen from 3.68 trillion yen a year ago.

Net income for the period advanced 32% to 128 billion yen compared to 97 billion yen and diluted earnings per share increased 144.77 yen from 109.67 yen a year earlier.

Sales of its seven premium products surged 34% to 497 billion yen and operating profit of its convenience store business jumped to 197.5 billion yen.

Family Mart gained 2.8% and closed at a 13-year high after the operator of convenience chain reported third quarter operating profit of 10.8 billion yen, matching the expectations.

Showa Denko K.K gained 1.4% to 149 yen after the petrochemical company agreed to acquire a 91.8% stake in Vietnam-based aluminum can producer Rexam Hanacans for an undisclosed sum.