Retail Sales in Japan Drop, Mitsubishi UFJ Acquires Fund Administrator

Hiruki Nakamura
29 May, 2014
New York City

The Nikkei Stocks Average gained in thin trading and the yen held firm below 102 against the U.S. dollar. April retail sales plunged 13.7%, after the announced sales tax increase brought forward sales in March. Mitsubishi UFJ agreed to acquire Bermuda based hedge fund administrator.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – The Nikkei Stocks Average gained in thin trading and the yen held firm below 102 against the U.S. dollar. April retail sales plunged 13.7%, after the announced sales tax increase brought forward sales in March. Mitsubishi UFJ agreed to acquire Bermuda based hedge fund administrator.[/R]

Market indexes in Japan gained and the retail sales in April plunged as expected after the announced sales tax increased brought forward retail sales.

Japan’s retail sales in April tumbled 13.7% compared to March, the worst decline in at least 14 years, after sales tax increased by 3 percentage points.

Sales at department stores declined at 10.6%, and at supermarkets dropped 3.9% but sales at convenience stores climbed to 4.2%.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average edged up 10.77 to 14,681.72 and the broader Topix index rose 2.51 to 1,200.68.

The yen held at 101.82 against one U.S. dollar.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp gained 50 yen to 5,663 yen. Honda Motor Co rose 8 yen to 3,534 yen. Nissan Motor Co Ltd jumped 2.1% to 927 yen.

Sony fell 18 yen to 1,636 yen.

Softbank Corp added 42 yen to 7,234 yen. Fast Retailing Co Ltd slid 25 yen to 34,015 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc rose 0.7% to 577 yen after the bank acquired Bermuda-based hedge fund services provider Meridian Fund Services Group. Meridian has $14 billion of assets under administration.

With the purchase, Mitsubishi UFJ raised its assets under administration to approximately $165 billion with 300 clients and 1,000 global funds.

NTT Docomo Inc closed unchanged at 1,691 yen after the mobile phone service provider announced its plan to sell iPad in Japan from June 10.

Japan Real Estate Investment Corporation was halted at 1,057,000 and the real estate developer intends to acquire Nishiki Park Building from Dynas, Ltd. of Aichi Prefecture for 650 million yen by June 9.

Rakuten Inc jumped 1.6% to 1,310 yen after the online travel services provider plans to open a cafe in Tokyo’s Shibuya district from today to increase its sales by offering popular desserts and drinks from its online mall.

Renesas Electronics Corporation increased 0.4% to 778 yen after the chip maker plans to sell a plant in Kai, Yamanashi Prefecture, to Glass One Technology Corp., a touch-panel maker for smart-phones.