Nikkei in Tokyo Declines 0.9% in Asia-wide Selloff

Hiruki Nakamura
09 Mar, 2015
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo fell and market indexes closed down and the yen traded above 121-mark against the U.S. dollar. The Asia-wide selloff was sparked after the latest U.S. jobs report suggested improving employment conditions and may lead the Federal Reserve to lift interest rates sooner than expected.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo declined and market indexes closed down and the yen traded above 121-mark against the U.S. dollar. The Asia-wide selloff was sparked after the latest U.S. jobs report suggested improving employment conditions and may lead the Federal Reserve to lift interest rates sooner than expected.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo eased following Asia-wide market selloff after a drop in market indexes in New York.

The yen weakened to the low in the year on the growing speculation that the U.S. Fed may be forced to raise interest rates sooner-than-expected after the latest jobs report suggested improving jobs market.

Electronics makers and auto exporters led the decliners in Tokyo trading today.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 180.45 or 0.9% to 18,790.55 and the broader Topix index slipped 9.08 to 1,531.76.

The yen eased and closed at 121.01 against one dollar.

Stocks in Review

Japan Display Inc gained 1% to 481 yen after the mobile display equipment maker confirmed its plan to build a new liquid crystal display manufacturing plant in Ishikawa, central Japan with an estimated cost of 170 billion yen or $1.4 billion.

The company amid to start operations in 2016 and expects to increase LCD panels production capacity of about 20%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc rose 0.3% to 781 yen after the Nikkei news reported that the financial services provider plans to spend 300 billion yen or $2.48 billion in next three years to expand the asset and administration businesses.

Miraial Co., Ltd jumped 2.3% to 1,564 yen after the plastic-molded products maker said net sales in the year ending in January climbed 12.5% to 9.40 billion yen from 8.36 billion yen a year ago period.

Net income in the year surged 73.6% to 769 million yen compared to 442 million yen and earnings per share jumped to 85.55 yen from 45.61 yen in the same period a year ago.

The company forecasted net sales for the first-half to decline 6.2% to 4.50 billion yen and net income to plunge 38% to 310 million yen.

Shimamura Co., Ltd slipped 1.3% to 12,070 yen after the Nikkei news said that the casual apparels retailer’s group operating profit for the year ending on February 20 may drop 10% to less than 40 billion yen or $330 million, on an increase in domestic consumption tax.