Yen Gains and Stocks Fall in Tokyo on Rising Tensions in Europe

Hiruki Nakamura
18 Jul, 2014
New York City

Stocks in Japan fell on the last day of the week and the Nikkei pared weekly advance to 0.3%. Resource and energy explorers advanced after oil rose in international markets on the rising tensions between Russia and Europe. Yaskawa Electric, the robot maker gained 4% on 33% rise in quarterly net.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan fell on the last day of the week and the Nikkei index pared weekly advance to 0.3%. Resource and energy explorers advanced after oil rose in international markets on the rising tensions between Russia and Europe. Yaskawa Electric Corp, the robot maker gained 4% on 33% rise in quarterly net.[/R]

Geopolitical tensions hovered market sentiment in Sydney trading and market indexes recovered from early doldrums to close higher. For the week, the indexes gained 0.7%.

International tensions ran high after Russia supported rebels shot down a passenger jet flying in international air space over Ukraine near Russian border. All 295 passengers including 15 flight crew were killed on a Malaysian Airlines flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

In addition, Israel stepped up its bombing offensive in Gaza and military widened its campaign to target rocket bases controlled by local groups defending borders.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 154.55 or 1% to 15,215.71 and the broader Topix index slipped 10.09 to 1,263.29. For the wee, Nikkei 225 gained 0.3%.

The yen closed at 101.35 against one U.S. dollar.

Stocks in Review

Askul Corporation dropped 2.7% to 3,200 yen after the office products retailer said net sales in the year ending in May climbed 11.8% to 253.41 billion yen from 226.61 billion yen a year ago.

Net income in the year tumbled 62.8% to 2.17 billion yen compared to 5.81 billion yen and diluted earnings per share declined to 39.54 yen from 107.50 yen a year ago month.

Japan System Techniques Co., Ltd gained 1% to 709 yen after the office processing software developer said net sales in the year ending in March jumped 6.8% to 10.83 billion yen from 10.14 billion yen a year ago period.

Net income in the year surged 65.2% to 278 million yen compared to 168 million yen and diluted earnings per share increased to 56.20 yen from 35.39 yen a year earlier.

SBI Holdings,Inc fell 0.8% to 1,219 yen after the financial service provider reported revenue in the first-quarter ending in June declined 24.3% to 15.93 billion yen from 21.04 billion yen a year earlier.

Net income in the quarter plummeted 37.1% to 3.81 billion yen compared to 6.06 billion yen from a year ago period.

Yaskawa Electric Corp climbed 4.4% to 1,384 yen after the industrial robots maker agreed to acquire Solectria Renewables, LLC through its U.S. subsidiary Yaskawa America Inc. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

The company reported net sales in the firs-quarter ending on June 20 jumped 6.4% to 91.02 billion yen from 85.52 billion yen a year ago.

Net income in the quarter soared 33% to 4.47 billion yen compared to 3.38 billion yen and diluted earnings per share advanced to 16.87 yen from 12.73 yen a year earlier.