Yen Extends Losses, FamilyMart and UNY in Merger Talks

Hiruki Nakamura
11 Mar, 2015
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo struggled to hold on gains of the day and the yen eased after the U.S. dollar hit a 12-year high against the euro. FamilyMart is in merger talks with the rival UNY Group to form the second-largest convenience store chain.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo struggled to hold on gains of the day and the yen eased after the U.S. dollar hit a 12-year high against the euro. FamilyMart is in merger talks with the rival UNY Group to form the second-largest convenience store chain.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo reacted to events in New York and in Europe after the U.S. dollar rose to a 12-year high and the euro zone ministers struggled to finalize an agreement with Greece.

Domestically, seasonally adjusted core machinery orders in January declined 1.7% to 838.9 billion yen after increasing 8.3% to 853.6 billion yen in December, the first decline in three months, the Cabinet Office said.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 58.41 or 0.3% to 18,723.52 and the broader Topix index edged up 0.92 to 1,525.67.

The yen eased and extended losses to 121.26 against a dollar.

Stocks in Review

FamilyMart Co Ltd plunged 6.9% to 4,935 yen after the convenience store confirmed it is in talks with rival UNY Group Holdings Co Ltd, to form country’s second-largest convenience store chain.

McDonald''s Holdings Co (Japan) Ltd gained 0.8% to 2,642 yen after the fast-food restaurant operator launch a new smart-phone app for customer complaints after the series of unexpected objects were discovered in food.

Sony, Inc rose 0.3% to 3,256 yen after the entertainment equipment maker will start to sell its flagship PlayStation 4 video game console and PlayStation Vita videogame consoles in China on March 20, two months later from initially planned. PlayStation 4 is expected to be priced at 2,899 yuan or $471 and Vita at 1,299 yuan or $207.

Suntory Holdings Ltd, the alcoholic beverages maker filed a lawsuit against Asahi Breweries Ltd with the Tokyo District Court for alleged patent infringement.