Yen Rises, Union Wage Demand Surprises Toyota

Hiruki Nakamura
19 Feb, 2014
New York City

Nikkei index in Tokyo extended gains for the second time this week and the yen gained against the dollar and the euro. Toyota said union demand for annual wage increase is surprisingly high. Hokkaido increased power rates for the first time in three decades.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei index in Tokyo extended gains for the second time this week and the yen gained against the dollar and the euro. Toyota said union demand for annual wage increase is surprisingly high. Hokkaido increased power rates for the first time in three decades.[/R]

In light trading stocks in Tokyo extended gains for the second time this week and the yen strengthened.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 76.71 or 0.5% to 14,766.53 and the Topix index slid 5.48 to 1,218.52.

The yen advanced to 102.08 against the U.S. dollar.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp fell 35 yen to 5,910 yen. Honda Motor Co dropped 67 yen to 3,754 yen. Nissan Motor Co Ltd lowered 5 yen to 933 yen.

Sony slipped 32 yen to 1,748 yen and the electronics products maker reported global sales of PlayStation 4 game consoles up to February 8 totaled 5.3 million.

Sony said sales in Japan will be start from February 22.

Softbank Corp dropped 151 yen to 7,666 yen. Fast Retailing Co declined 545 yen to 35,720 yen.

Hokkaido Electric Power Co., Inc slipped 1.8% to 1,021 yen after the utility provider plans to raise its electricity rates amid deteriorating the earnings due to fuel cost increase for thermal power generation.

The company raised its household rate by about 7.73%, the first hike by in 32 years.

Mitsubishi Corporation rose 0.4% to 1,999 yen after the Japan-based trading company signed an agreement with Colcafe, a subsidiary of Grupo Nutresa S.A. to establish a fifty-fifty joint venture in Malaysia for expanding the coffee business in Asia.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd fell 0.6% to 627 yen after the diversified infrastructure developer secured an order for pressurizer nozzle spool piece to replace at Ringhals Nuclear Power Plant in Sweden.