Nikkei in 2-Day Rally, Fast Retailing Hong Kong Listing Soars 7%

Hiruki Nakamura
05 Mar, 2014
New York City

Indexes in Japan traded higher for the second day in a row and the yen eased after investors hoped tensions between Russia and Ukraine will ease. Fast Retailing saw its stock listing soared 7% on the first day in Hong Kong. Bank of Japan said monetary base expanded at a record 1.9% in February.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Market indexes in Japan traded higher for the second day in a row and the yen eased after investors hoped tensions between Russia and Ukraine will ease. Fast Retailing saw its stock listing soared 7% on the first day in Hong Kong. Bank of Japan said monetary base expanded at a record 1.9% in February.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo advanced for the second day in a row and real estate companies led the gainers again.

Investors hoped tensions between Russia and Ukraine ease and commodities prices will remain in check after Russia’s President Vladimir V. Putin said there is no need for a military strike for now.

Market sentiment was positive after tensions eased between Russia and Ukraine. U.S. offered a $1 billion loan guarantee, far less than the $15 billion emergency funding requested by the Ukraine’s interim and unelected government.

U.S. and European Union member nations have a history of offering economic assistance that are not always followed up with what is announced.

Japan’s Monetary Base Expands

The Bank of Japan said nation''s monetary base at the end of February expanded 1.9% to 204.75 trillion yen from January, a record high for the first time in two months.

The central bank anticipated to lift the monetary base by the end of 2014.

The combined balance of currency in circulation and commercial financial institutions'' current account deposits at the bank to 270 trillion yen in order to achieve inflation target of 2%.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 176.15 or 1.2% to 14,897.63 and the Topix index rose 8.79 to 1,212.90.

The yen declined 0.7% to 102.42 against the U.S. dollar.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp fell 49 yen to 5,762 yen. Honda Motor Co rose 47 yen to 3,732 yen. Nissan Motor Co Ltd added 0.8% to 902 yen.

Sony jumped 37 yen to 1,783 yen after the electronic products maker said as of March 2 worldwide sales of PlayStation 4 consoles was 6 million. The data includes 370,000 units sold in Japan since it launch in the country on February 22.

In addition, Sony sold 13.7 million games through retail stores and online stores in the period.

Analysts had expected the sale of 5 million consoles by the end of fiscal year of March.

Softbank Corp increased 117 yen to 7,591 yen.

Fast Retailing Co climbed 1,085 yen or 3% to 36,975 yen after the casual clothing chain UNIQLO operator listed its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The stock soared 7% on the first day of its trading.

The listing is intended to raise its profile in China, and the retailer plans to triple its number of stores to 1,000 on the mainland.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd slipped 1.8% to 2,685 yen after the automaker lowered its fiscal net-income forecast to 192 billion yen.