Nikkei Falls 1.3% in Asian-wide Sell-Off

Hiruki Nakamura
03 Mar, 2014
New York City

The Nikkei in Tokyo plunged 1.3% and the yen gained as tensions mounted in Eastern Europe. Russia

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – The Nikkei in Tokyo plunged 1.3% and the yen gained as tensions mounted in Eastern Europe. Russia’s incursion in Crimea drew worldwide attention and crude oil prices rose as much as 2.5%. Japan said capital spending in the fourth quarter rose 2.8%.[/R]

Stocks in Asia declined as the crisis in Ukraine escalated amid reports of Russia’s incursion in Crimea.

Over the weekend, Russia’s premier sought and won an approval from Russian lawmakers to send more troops to Crimea and keep them there for an indefinite period.

The escalation of tensions in the region also sought worldwide attention as Russia relies on the sale of its natural gas through a network of pipes to Western Europe.

In unofficial trading over the weekend, Russia ruble fell as much as 5% and Moscow’s stock market index futures plunged as much as 10%.

The rising tension could blow up into a war between Russia and Ukraine and that could draw Western Europe and U.S. and may force out Russia from G8 summits.

In a report released today, the Ministry of Finance said capital spending in the fourth quarter of 2013 jumped 2.8%.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 188.84 or 1.3% to 14,652.23 and the Topix index decreased 14.90 to 1,196.76.

The yen gained to 101.39 against the U.S. dollar.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp slipped 66 yen to 5,773 yen. Honda Motor Co jumped 62 yen to 3,709 yen. Nissan Motor Co Ltd slid 0.6% to 905 yen.

Sony fell 20 yen to 1,760 yen after plans to sell its former Shinagawa-based headquarter building in Tokyo and other buildings. The properties could raised more than 10 billion yen.

Softbank Corp dropped 242 yen to 7,426 yen.

Fast Retailing Co gained 430 yen to 35,480 yen after the retailer’s chain Uniqlo, may buy as much as $5 billion of apparel from J.Crew Group Inc.

Astellas Pharma Inc declined 4.8% to 6,279 yen after the Japan-based pharmaceutical company proposed a 5-for-1 stock split and increase number of shares to 9 billion shares.

Daiwa House Industry Co Ltd rose 0.4% to 1,853 yen after the Japan-based construction company plans to invest 150 billion yen or $1.5 billion in rental properties between 2014 and 2016 in collaboration with U.S.-based Lincoln Property Company to achieve revenues of 50 billion yen in the U.S. by fiscal 2018.

Japan Display Inc, the displays related products maker sought 389.3 billion yen from initial public offering and will offer 140 million new shares between 900 yen and 1,100 yen per share.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp fell 0.9% to 1,115 yen after the automobile company said it will pay dividend of 25 yen per share for the year ending in March, its first payout in 16 years.