Stocks in Japan Resume Advance, Wholesale Prices Rise in May

Hiruki Nakamura
11 Jun, 2014
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo advanced a day after trading lower and extended 14-day gain and the yen closed lower. Wholesale prices in May rose at the fastest pace in 5% on sales tax increase. Nissan is scheduled to launch its first electric vehicle in domestic market in October.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo advanced a day after trading lower and extended 14-day gain and the yen closed lower. Wholesale prices in May rose at the fastest pace in 5% on sales tax increase. Nissan is scheduled to launch its first electric vehicle in domestic market in October.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo resumed their advance and the yen edged lower after the latest report on corporate goods price showed a slower increase in May.

Bank of Japan said domestic wholesale corporate goods prices in May rose 0.3% following a 2.8% increase in April. The prices rose the most in five years when compared to a year ago month.

Corporate Goods Price Index climbed 4.4% from a year ago month and most of the price increase was driven by a rise in sales tax in April. Excluding the sales tax impact, the price index gained 1.6% from a year ago driven by strong demand in construction sector.

Export prices in May fell 0.3% from the previous month and 1.5% from a year ago and import prices eased 0.1% on a monthly basis and gained 0.1% from a year ago month.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 74.68 or 0.5% to 15,069.48 and the broader Topix index increased 10.34 to 1,239.07.

The yen edged lower to close at 102.29 against one U.S. dollar.

Stocks in Review

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd increased 0.5% to 958 yen and the automaker is scheduled to launch its first commercial electric vehicle e-NV200 in domestic markets in October.

The company said it will be able to travel about 190 kilometers on a single charge while carrying two passengers and no cargo. Maximum speed will be at 100 kilometers per hours to save electricity consumption.

Prices will range from 3,880,440 yen to 4,786,560 yen and up to 850,000 yen including government subsidies.

Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd gained 0.9% to 4,155 yen after the Nikkei newspaper reported convenience stores operator forecasted operating profit for the quarter ending in May to climbed 5%. The sales are expected to rise despite sales tax increase from April.

Sanno Co., Ltd slid 0.3% to 372 yen after the electronic components maker said net sales in the third-quarter ending in April dropped 2.8% to 5.51 billion yen from 5.36 billion yen a year ago period.

Net loss in the quarter narrowed to 14 million yen compared to 98 million yen and earnings per share decreased to 3.20 yen from 20.78 yen a year earlier.

Tokyu Corporation rose 0.1% to 708 yen after the transportation service provider plans to return 17.84 billion yen through share buybacks of 2.62 million.