Japan Stock Rally Extends to 9th Day on GPIF Report

Hiruki Nakamura
03 Jun, 2014
New York City

Stocks in Japan extended gains for the ninth day in a row and the yen eased. The government pension fund report notes were seen as a boost to Japanese equities. Market indexes in Asia closed higher.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan extended gains for the ninth day in a row and the yen eased. The government pension fund report notes were seen as a boost to Japanese equities. Market indexes in Asia closed higher.[/R]

Stocks extended the advance for the ninth day in a row and the yen eased and comments from the Government Pension Investment Fund also spurred the index gain.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 98.33 or 0.7% to 15,034.25 and the broader Topix index rose 8.12 to 1,228.59.

The yen eased to 102.40 against one U.S. dollar.

The broader Topix index increased to close at a high not seen since March and then yen held after sliding 0.6% in yesterday’s closing following a report from the government controlled pension fund.

The chairman of the GPIF said in a report that allocation of as much as 20% to Japanese stocks is not too much. The comments were widely circulated and investors bid up stocks on the hope that the pension fund will increase exposure to Japanese stocks.

Stocks in Review

Daio Paper Corporation plunged 7.1% to 1.089 yen after the company said it will raise as much as 22.4 billion yen or $219 million through a public offering of 14 million shares.

Seibu Holdings Inc jumped 2% to 2,232 yen after the passenger transport services provider plans to renovate a land area at new train station in central Tokyo ahead of 2020 Olympic Games.

Senshu Electric Co., Ltd gained 1.9% to 1,450 yen after the electrical wires and cables seller said net sales in the second-quarter ending in April jumped 8.4% to 38.10 billion yen from 35.14 billion yen a year ago.

Net income in the quarter climbed 14.2% to 775 million yen compared to 679 million yen and diluted earnings per share increased to 74.06 yen from 64.85 yen a year earlier.

The company forecasted consolidated revenue for the year ending in October of 74.10 billion yen from 71.30 billion yen and net profit to increase to 1.40 billion yen compared to 1.33 billion yen a year ago.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc increased 1.8% to 4,244 yen after the banking services provider plans to increase the number of employees outside Japan by 25% in the next three years to expand the business including securitization, trading and investment banking.

United Arrows Ltd dropped 1.9% to 4,175 yen after the apparel retailer said total company sales in May surged 105.3% and same store sales in the month including online sales soared 103.8% from a year ago month.