Nikkei Eases on Euro Worries; NTT, Nissan and Pioneer in Focus

Hiruki Nakamura
09 Feb, 2015
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo closed down after the yen weakened and investors worried of gathering storms in the euro zone. Greece stood firm on its plan to roll back austerity as agreed by the previous government with the international lenders and Ukraine crisis deepens.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo closed down after the yen weakened and investors worried of gathering storms in the euro zone. Greece stood firm on its plan to roll back austerity as agreed by the previous government with the international lenders and Ukraine crisis deepens.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo closed down after the yen weakened and Greece reaffirmed its commitment to rolling back austerity measures.

Market sentiment was weak at the opening and investors looked at the yen trading after Greece’s Prime Minster Alexis Tsipras on Sunday stood firm on his pledge to increase minimum wage and government employee’s salaries and also raise minimum threshold for income tax.

The Greek leader’s commitment to increase wages and lower tax threshold is in direct violation of conditions set during the international bailout of 240 billion euros.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 63.43 or 0.4% to 17,711.93 and the broader Topix index rose 7.73 to 1,424.92.

Current account surplus in the year narrowed 18.8% to 2.63 trillion yen from 3.23 trillion yen a year ago, according to preliminary report released by finance ministry.

Exports in the year jumped 9.3% to 74.12 trillion yen and imports climbed 10.3% to 84.49 trillion yen from a year ago period.

The trade balance reflected a deficit of 395.6 billion yen followed by 636.8 billion yen deficit in the previous month.

In December, current account surplus narrowed to 187.2 billion yen compared to 433 billion yen surplus in November.

Exports in the month surged 19.3% to 7.1 trillion yen accelerating from 10.8% gain a month earlier and imports climbed 6.7% to 7.50 trillion yen after increasing 2.2% in November.

The Bank of Japan reported bank lending in January was up 2.5% on year and total outstanding loans stood at 487.17 trillion yen.

The growth in loans outstanding decreased from 2.6% gain in December.

The yen eased to 118.95 against one dollar.

Stocks in Review

Nissan Motor Co Ltd increased 1.4% to 1,064 yen after the second-largest automaker said net sales in the nine-month period ending in December soared 11.1% to 8.09 trillion yen from 7.28 trillion yen a year ago period.

Net income in the year surged 23.6% to 338.81 billion yen compared to 274.10 billion yen and diluted earnings per share jumped to 80.82 yen from 65.39 yen in the same period a year ago.

The company said sales in China in the nine-month period climbed 5.2% to 879,000 units while for the year sales edged up 0.5% to 1.22 million units amid signs of slowing Chinese growth.

Nissan revised upwards its full-year revenues forecast to climb 6.4% to 11.15 trillion yen and net income to jump 8% to 420 billion yen and earnings per share to be about of 100.19 yen.

Marubeni Corp gained 1.4% to 698 yen after the diversified conglomerate said total revenues in the nine-month period ending in December climbed 7.9% to 10.56 trillion yen from 9.78 trillion yen a year ago period.

Net income in the period plunged 22% to 234.06 billion yen compared to 300.05 billion yen and diluted earnings per share plummeted to 44.42 yen from 92.28 yen in the same period a year ago.

The company forecasted revenues for the year to jump 4.9% to 14.30 trillion yen but net income to tumble 47.9% to 110 billion yen and earnings per share to be about 63.39 yen.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation jumped 4.9% to 7,212 after the communications service provider reported revenues in the nine-month period ending in December rose 2% to 8.18 trillion yen from 8.02 billion yen a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter declined 7.1% to 449.94 billion yen compared to 484.30 billion yen and earnings per share dropped to 407.69 yen from 418.78 yen in the same period a year ago.

The company forecasted revenues for the year to increase 0.8% to 11 trillion yen but net income to slump 9.6% to 529 billion yen.

NOK Corporation fell 0.3% to 3,265 yen after the flexible circuit board maker reported net sales in the nine-month period ending in December climbed 18.5% to 513.51 billion yen from 433.33 billion yen a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter surged 134.1% to 39.58 billion yen compared to 16.91 billion yen and earnings per share jumped to 229.19 yen from 98.05 yen in the same period a year ago.

Pioneer Corp slid 0.4% to 236 yen after the electronic products maker reported net sales in the third-quarter ending in December jumped 8% to 136.43 billion yen from 126.30 billion yen a year ago period.

Net loss in the quarter widened to 2.30 billion yen compared to 1.75 billion yen and loss per share increased to 6.27 yen from 4.76 yen in the same period a year ago.

The company forecasted net sales for the year to be nearly flat at 515 billion yen from earlier estimate and net income to decline 7.5% to 1850 billion yen.