Nikkei Turns Lower, Toshiba Plunges 10%

Hiruki Nakamura
06 Apr, 2015
New York City

Nikkei 225 Average in Tokyo eased following weaker than expected U.S. jobs report. Toshiba Corp dropped after the company appointed a committee to investigate earnings irregularity in the fiscal year ending in March 2014.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei 225 Average in Tokyo eased following weaker than expected U.S. jobs report. Toshiba Corp dropped after the company appointed a committee to investigate earnings irregularity in the fiscal year ending in March 2014.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo eased after the latest jobs report in the U.S. fell short of most economists’ lowest estimate.

Net new jobs added in March in the U.S. declined to 126,000 and estimates of jobs increase were revised lower for January and February by 69,000.

Jobless rate was held at 5.5% but the number of people looking for jobs longer than 27 weeks fell.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 37.10 to 19,397.98 and the broader Topix index slid 3.45 to 1,560.71.

The yen slipped to 119.09 against a dollar.

Stocks in Review

Nihon Enterprise Co., Ltd decreased 1.4% to 346 yen after the mobile contents provider said net sales in the third-quarter ending in March soared 14.1% to 3.74 billion yen from 3.28 billion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the year tumbled 60.8% to 162 million yen compared to 414 million yen in a year ago.

Nikon Corp slid 0.4% to 1,632 yen after the Nikkei news said image and video equipment maker’s sales for the year to decline 12% to 860 billion yen and operating profit to plunge 41% to 37 billion yen.

Sharp Corporation soared 6.1% to 245 yen after the electronic products maker plans to spin off its business for liquid crystal displays and the government-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan may invest as much as 100 billion yen or $828 million in the new unit by the end of next fiscal year.

Tomony Holdings, Inc jumped 2.2% to 560 yen after the Nikkei news reported that the regional bank and Taisho Bank owned 26% by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc are plans to merge before next spring.

Tosoh Corporation declined 3.7% to 644 yen after the resin products and polymers producer’s operating profit for the fiscal 2014 is expected at 52 billion yen compared to earlier estimate of 50 billion yen, according to a report in Nikkei news.

Toshiba Corp plunged 10.5% to 466 yen after the company said it plans to appoint a committee to investigate earnings irregularity for the fiscal year ending in March 2014.