Tokyo Stocks Extend 3-Day Rally, Kirin in Focus

Hiruki Nakamura
26 Mar, 2014
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo advanced and the yen traded near a 2-month low. Kirin Holdings Co gained 3% on a media report that the brewer is likely to raise its annual earnings estimate and consider stock buyback.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo advanced and the yen traded near a 2-month low. Kirin Holdings Co gained 3% on a media report that the brewer is likely to raise its annual earnings estimate and consider stock buyback.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo traded higher and the broader Topix index gained for the third day in a row on the back of U.S. consumer confidence rising to a six-year high.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 53.97 or 0.4% to 14,477.16 and the Topix index rose 8.37 to 1,172.07.

The yen closed at 102.32 against the U.S. dollar.

Investors turned optimistic about domestic economy and an adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may provide additional stimulus in mid-May to support the inflation target of 2%.

Japan is scheduled for its first tax hike after a decade and investors are worried that the consumer spending may suffer for at least two quarters.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp jumped 61 yen to 5,621 yen. Honda Motor Co gained 21 yen to 3,541 yen. Nissan Motor Co Ltd rose 1% to 899 yen.

Sony jumped 34 yen to 1,871 yen after the electronics products maker said demand for the PlayStation 4 console will be a short supply up to the summer amid overwhelming demand.

Softbank Corp dropped 125 yen to 7,963 yen. Fast Retailing Co rose 55 yen to 35,980 yen.

Hitachi, Ltd jumped 3.3% to 757 yen after the diversified company expects revenues in its health care business to reach about 600 billion yen in fiscal 2018 and almost double its estimate for this fiscal year.

The company said its subsidiary Hitachi Elevator Asia Pte. Ltd. won a batch order for 49 elevators and escalators to be installed in the Duo mixed development project in Singapore''s Central Business District.

Japan Airlines Co Ltd rose 0.8% to 4,720 yen after the airline company forecasted net profit for the fiscal March 2015 of 115 billion yen or $1.12 billion and operating profit of 140 billion yen.

This compared to earlier estimate of 148 billion yen for the year to the end of this month.

Separately, the transport ministry granted Japan Airlines a slot to fly from Tokyo’s Haneda airport to Ho Chi Minh City from Sunday.