Japanese Shares Turn Lower, Tankan Index Rises

Hiruki Nakamura
01 Oct, 2014
New York City

Tankan index of confidence among large manufacturers increased in July, the Bank of Japan said today. Investors turned cautious after Hong Kong braced for larger protests as national holidays begin in China.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Tankan index of confidence among large manufacturers increased in July, the Bank of Japan said today. Investors turned cautious after Hong Kong braced for larger protests as national holidays begin in China.[/R]

Stocks in Japan declined and large manufacturers’ confidence index in July increased and the yen eased again.

Companies in the survey indicated that they are likely to increase capital expenditure by 8.6% in the financial year ending in March.

Tankan index for large manufacturers rose to 13 in July from 12 in June, the Bank of Japan said today.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 91.27 or 0.6% to 16,082.25 and the broader Topix index fell 8.08 to 1,318.21.

The yen traded at 109.80 against one U.S. dollar.

Stocks in Review

Ibiden Co., Ltd plunged 15.3% to 1,810 yen after the electronic products maker lowered consolidated net profit forecast for the year by 37% to 11 billion yen from earlier estimate of 16.5 billion yen, mainly due to escalating costs of setting up a new plant in Malaysia.

Jastec Co., Ltd slid 0.2% to 892 yen after the software developer said net sales in the third-quarter ending in August climbed 13% to 9.25 billion yen from 8.19 billion yen a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter surged 24.2% to 574 million compared to 462 million yen and diluted earnings per share jumped to 33 yen from 26.73 yen a year earlier.

Nikon Corporation dropped 1.2% to 1,566 yen after the image and video devices maker is expected to report operating profit for the first-half to tumble 77% from a year ago period.

Rakuten Inc declined 3.8% to 1,215 yen after the online shopping mall operator completed merger of its subsidiary VI-VI-VI.COM Co., Ltd.