Volatile Nikkei Closes Higher, Japanese Machinery Orders Rise

Hiruki Nakamura
16 Jan, 2014
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo diverged and market indexes closed higher at close in a volatile trading session. Core machinery orders surged 9.3% in November. Mitsubishi Motors advanced 8% on 154% sales surge in China.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo diverged and market indexes closed higher at close in a volatile trading session. Core machinery orders surged 9.3% in November. Mitsubishi Motors advanced 8% on 154% sales surge in China.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo diverged and market indexes closed higher after volatile and listless trading in the session. Airlines and automakers led the gainers.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 61.53 or 0.4% to 15,747.20 and the Topix index edged down 0.13 to 1,294.39.

Japanese indexes measured on book values alone are still lagging world markets.

The Topix index is trading at 1.3 times book value, despite the recent surge of 50% in last one year, trailing the 2.7 times for the S&P 500 index and 1.9 times for the largest 600 European companies.

The yen closed at 104.73 against the U.S. dollar.

Core machinery orders in Japan increased more than expected in November, according to data released by the Cabinet Office today.

Core machinery orders index increased 9.3% from October as power utilities and infrastructure companies

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp increased 26 yen to 6,261 yen.

Honda Motor Co rose 33 yen to 4,183 yen and yesterday the auto maker commenced its second plant in Karawang, Indonesia with investment of 3.1 trillion rupiah.

Nissan Motor Co Ltd gained 17 yen to 959 yen. Sony slid 4 yen to 1,804 yen.

Softbank Corp jumped 27 yen to 8,890 yen. Fast Retailing Co dropped 935 yen to 38,820 yen.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation surged 8.3% to 1,163 yen after the automaker said China sales in December soared 154% to 10,036 units and total sales climbed 63% in Asia.

Seibu Holdings Inc, the Japan-based railway and hotel operator, a significant stake controlled by the U.S.-based Cerberus Capital Management LP, plans to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in April.

The U.S. based fund agreed to divest its stake to 20% from its present 35.48%.

Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc rose 0.6% to 500 yen and electric utility provider plans to raise electricity rates following consumption tax increase from 5% to 8% in April.

Airlines were in focus on no specific news.

ANA Holdings gained 2.2% to 230 yen and Japan Airlines added 1.3% to 5,370 yen.