Topix Extends Weekly Loss; Toyota, Honda and Nissan Production Rise

Hiruki Nakamura
28 Aug, 2014
New York City

Stocks in Japan declined and extended weekly losses. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India is scheduled to visit Japan with a delegation of eighteen billionaires. Toyota, Honda and Nissan report mix domestic sales but worldwide production rises.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan declined and extended weekly losses. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India is scheduled to visit Japan with a delegation of eighteen billionaires. Toyota, Honda and Nissan report mix domestic sales but worldwide production rises.[/R]

Japanese stocks declined and extended weekly losses and the yen edged up for the second day in a row and Prime Minister of India is scheduled to lead a delegation of eighteen billionaires to visit the nation this weekend.

Narendra Modi is set to visit Japan and bolster economic ties and defense cooperation between Japan and India and balance ties with China as India seek to diversify power generation capability and seek investment in infrastructure projects.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 74.96 or 0.5% to 15,459.86 and the broader Topix index fell 5.18 to 1,280.74.

The yen closed at 103.79 against one U.S. dollar.

Inflation and employment data are scheduled to be released tomorrow. Jobless rate is expected to be near 3.7% and consumer price index is expected to rise 3.3% in July.

Stocks in Review

Honda Motor Co Ltd slid 0.2% to 3,531.50 after the second largest automaker in Japan said worldwide production in July climbed 7.2% from a year ago month to 363,497 units.

Production in Japan surged 27.9% to 84,898 units and international production increased 2.2% to 278,599 units. Honda brand sales in Japan soared 23.7% to 70,971 units.

Japan Airlines Co Ltd gained 0.7% to 5,860 yen and the airline said it plans to buy 32 aircraft from Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation with a total price tag of 150 billion yen or $1.4 billion.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation slid 0.1% to 1,197 yen and the automaker reported total auto production in July fell slightly from a year ago month to 112,163 units.

Domestic production surged to 62,174 units, the fourteenth consecutive monthly increase since May 2013.

Domestic sales declined to 9,655 units while exports climbed to 34,721 units from a year ago month.

Nissan Motor Co Ltd decreased 0.5% to 1,009 after the automobile manufacturer said total production in July fell 2.7% to 365,448 units from last year.

Production in Japan plummeted 22.5% to 79,267 units but production outside Japan jumped 4.8% to 286,181 units. Production in the U.S. soared 28.9% to 53,168 units mainly due to higher demand for newly released Rogue.

In Mexico, production climbed 19.1% to 57,781 units on rising sales of Sentra and Versa. China production declined 17.3% to 68,092 units.

Worldwide sales increased 0.6% to 416,933 units, record July month sales. In Japan, sales plunged 10.3% to 55,716 units while sales outside of Japan increased 2.5% to 361,217 units.

Total exports tumbled 27.3% to 43,417 units.

Toyota Motor Corp slipped 0.7% to 5,935 yen after the automobile company reported worldwide production in July jumped 2.5% to 888,551 units from a year ago month.

The company added production in Japan dropped 5.7% to 389,370 units but production outside Japan climbed 9.9% to 499,181 units from a year earlier.

Sales in Japan declined 5.8% to 199,736 units while exports jumped 5% to 184,898 units from a year ago.