Nikkei's 1.8% Plunge Extends Loss to 10% in Year; Asahi, Tatemono Fall

Hiruki Nakamura
13 Feb, 2014
New York City

Nikkei index in Tokyo declined 1.8% and extended the year-to-date loss to 10%. Real estate companies led the decline. Asahi Group Holdings dropped 5% after the second-largest beer maker estimated annual income below the estimates.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei index in Tokyo declined 1.8% and extended the loss to 10% in the year. Real estate companies led the decline. Asahi Group Holdings dropped 5% after the second-largest beer maker estimated annual income below the estimates.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo extended losses and the benchmark Nikkei decline deepened to 10% in the year.

Investors also digested the latest earnings short falls from real estate companies and stocks dropped for the first time in five days.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 265.32 or 1.8% to 14,534.74 and the Topix index dropped 19.86 or 1.6% to 1,199.74.

The yen slipped to 102.16 against the U.S. dollar.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp dropped 129 yen to 5,891 yen. Honda Motor Co declined 81 yen to 3,753 yen. Nissan Motor Co Ltd fell 9 yen to 894 yen.

Sony slipped 36 yen to 1,729 yen.

Softbank Corp plummeted 276 yen to 7,506 yen. Fast Retailing Co slipped 915 yen to 35,715 yen.

Asahi Group Holdings Ltd plunged 4.5% to 2,692 after the Japan-based beer-maker reported net sales in the year ending in December climbed 8.6% to 1.71 trillion yen from 1.58 trillion yen a year ago.

Net income in the year jumped 8% to 61.7 billion yen compared to 57.2 billion yen and diluted earnings per share rose to 126.26 yen from 122.67 yen a year earlier.

Today, Asahi said total monthly sales in January increased 3% from a year ago month.

Seiko Holdings Corporation plummeted 10.6% to 473 yen after the electronics devices maker said net sales in the third-quarter ending in December jumped 3.8% to 225.6 billion yen from 217.3 billion yen a year earlier.

Net income in the quarter surged 63% to 11.9 billion yen compared to 7.3 billion yen and earnings per share climbed to 57.95 yen from 40.03 yen a year ago period.

Sumitomo Realty & Development Co., Ltd dropped 2.4% to 4,415 yen after the real estate developer said net sales in the third-quarter ending in December soared 13.9% to 5.79 trillion yen from 5.08 trillion yen a year ago.

Net income in the quarter climbed 24.8% to 62.8 billion yen compared to 50.3 billion yen and earnings per share jumped to 132.49 yen from 106.13 yen a year earlier.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd tumbled 8.3% to 869 yen after the real estate company lowered operating profit estimates for the year of 27 billion yen from 29.3 billion yen a year ago.