Yen Gains but Nikkei in Tokyo Eases

Hiruki Nakamura
23 Jul, 2014
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo closed lower in thin trading and the yen gained on persistent tensions in Europe and Middle East. Tokyo Electron declined after a ministry in China expressed opposition to the merger with Applied Materials.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo closed lower in thin trading and the yen gained on persistent tensions in Europe and Middle East. Tokyo Electron declined after a ministry in China expressed opposition to the merger with Applied Materials.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo closed lower and the yen was in focus after geopolitical tensions remained high.

Domestic earnings and corporate news dominated trading sentiment and Asahi Glass plans to increase glass products prices for building by 20%.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 14.72 to 15,328.56 and the broader Topix index inched lower 0.88 to 1,272.39.

The yen closed at 101.39 against one U.S. dollar.

Stocks in Review

Asahi Glass Co Ltd jumped 2.3% to 609.10 yen after the glass manufacturer said it plans to raise prices for its buildings glass products by up to 20% from September 1 on higher material and fuel costs. This will be the first price hike since 2008.

Kito Corporation slipped 0.5% to 2,676 after the cranes and trolleys maker’s U.S.-based subsidiary Kito Americas, Inc agreed to acquire 213,750 shares for of Peerless Industrial Group, Inc., from Westview Capital Partners II, L.P for $80 million.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of August or in the last week of September.

Orix Corporation fell 0.9% to 1,591.50 yen after the Nikkei newspaper reported financial and leasing company plans to invest as much as 25 billion yen to build approx 15 geothermal power stations in Japan in next five years.

Sony Corp gained 1.1% to 1,699.50 after the electronics products maker plans to close its lithium-ion batteries plants in Shimotsuke, Tochigi Prefecture, by the end of September and shift 40 engineers to a Koriyama plant.

Toshiba Corporation rose 0.3% to 469.20 yen after the electronics products maker increased damages charge demand from the South Korean semiconductor maker SK Hynix Inc. claims for wrongfully acquired information related to memory chips.

Toshiba filed a 109 billion yen civil suit in March with the Tokyo District Court.

In addition, the company secured contract worth 15 billion yen or $148 million to provide turbines and generators to Vietnam-based thermal power plant.