Yen Hits 8-Year Low Against Dollar, Nikkei in 9-Day Rally

Hiruki Nakamura
27 May, 2015
New York City

Nikkei average gained for the ninth day in a row and extended rally to a 4.5% advance. The yen dropped to a low not seen since July 2007. Mitsubishi Gas said it plans to spend 9 billion yen to buy back its stock. Seibu Holdings estimated fiscal year profit to jump 10%.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei average gained for the ninth day in a row and extended rally to a 4.5% advance. The yen dropped to a low not seen since July 2007. Mitsubishi Gas said it plans to spend 9 billion yen to buy back its stock. Seibu Holdings estimated fiscal year profit to jump 10%.[/R]

Nikkei index in Tokyo closed higher and extended rally to the ninth day in a row but the index struggled to eke out more gains on the weak yen.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 35.10 or 0.2% to 20,472.58 and the broader Topix index edged up 1.76 to 1,661.33.

The yen closed at 123.03 against a dollar, a low not seen since July 2007.

Stocks in Review

Astellas Pharma Inc edged up 0.06% to 1,816 yen after the pharmaceutical company agreed to acquire up to 20 million shares for about 40 billion yen from May 28 to July 24.

Amano Corp increased 1.4% to 1,678 yen after the Nikkei daily news said software developer will set a side 10 billion yen for mergers and acquisitions in Europe and Asia.

As of March, the company holds about 35 billion yen in cash and deposits.

Daio Paper Corporation gained 1% to 1,310 yen after the Nikkei news reported paper products maker plans to increase sales of diapers and other products to reduce debt to 310 billion yen in the fiscal 2018, 17% decline from the end of fiscal 2014.

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co Inc jumped 2.8% to 728 yen after the chemical producer said it will spend as much as 9 billion yen to buy back 10 million shares between May 27 and July 31.

Separately the company announced it will spare 3.16 billion yen for the annual dividend for the year ending in March.

Mitsubishi Corporation fell 0.5% to 2,811 yen and the largest trading company and Toda Corporation and Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance launched its mega-solar power plant in Nagasaki, Western Japan.

Seibu Holdings Inc dropped 2.4% to 2,847 yen after the transport company forecasted operating profit for the current fiscal year to climb 10% to a record 46.1 billion yen.