8-Day Rally in Nikkei Extends Gains to 4.4%

Hiruki Nakamura
26 May, 2015
New York City

Nikkei average extended rally to the eighth day in a row and the benchmark index jumped 4.4% in the longest rally since August. Monex Group said annual operating revenues declined 7%. Kyushu Electric Power jumped 4% after the electric utility said it plans to restart is nuclear reactor in late July.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei average extended gains for the eighth day in a row and the benchmark index jumped 4.4% in the longest rally since August. Monex Group said annual operating revenues declined 7%. Kyushu Electric Power jumped 4% after the electric utility said it plans to restart is nuclear reactor in late July.[/R]

Nikkei average extended rally to the eighth day in a row but trading volume was thin as many traders were away in the U.S. for a three-day weekend.

Nikkei in Tokyo has jumped nearly 4.4% in the last eight days as corporation report rising earnings and share more with shareholders and a growing optimism for the domestic economy.

However in Tokyo, investor’ opinion remain divided on the course and pace of U.S. interest rate in the next six months. At least for now, the Fed is showing no sense of urgency and rates have at record low for more than six years.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 23.71 to 20,437.48 and the broader Topix index edged up 0.42 to 1,659.57.

The yen closed at 122.70 against a dollar.

Stocks in Review

Askul Corporation climbed 4.3% to 3,275 yen and the office products retailer agreed to renew the business and capital alliance agreement with Yahoo Japan Corporation including a joint venture LOHACO.

As of November 2014, Yahoo Japan holds 41.8% stake in LOHACO.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd fell 0.5% to 778.20 yen after the diversified manufacturer may be planning to take a stake in a joint venture company “Japan Tunnel Systems”, set up by IHI Corp and JFE Engineering, a new company schedule do to start operations in 2016.

JFE Holdings stock climbed 4.5% to 3,015 yen but IHI stock slipped 0.5% to 573 yen.

Monex Group, Inc increased 0.5% to 373 yen after the online securities services provider said operating revenue in April declined 7.3% to 4.75 billion yen from 5.13 billion yen in March but surged 37.3% from 3.46 billion yen in a year ago month.

The company reduced the financial expenses in the month to 456 million yen from 561 million yen in March.

Planet, Inc gained 0.4% to 1,434 yen after the construction and infrastructure group said net sales in the year ending in April rose 1.4% to 2.07 billion yen form 2.05 billion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the year climbed 5.9% to 332 million yen compared to 313 million yen and earnings per share increased to 50.13 yen from 47.32 yen in the same period a year ago.

Showa Denko K.K. rose 0.6% to 170 yen after the petrochemical company’s aluminium recycler subsidiary collected approx 5.24 million cans, equivalent to about 85 tons when converted at the rate of 16.2 grams of aluminium per can.

Toshiba Corp edged up 0.2% to 410.50 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported the industrial conglomerate will not issue a final dividend for the year after a delay in its full-year earnings report and an accounting probe.