Nikkei in Tokyo Soars 1.5%, Yen Advances

Hiruki Nakamura
22 Jun, 2015
New York City

Nikkei average in Tokyo soared 1.5% and the yen gained in active trading. Tokyo Electron and Applied Materials withdrew merger plan. Fancl, the maker of nutrition supplements, said sales in May increased 17%.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei average in Tokyo soared 1.5% and the yen gained in active trading. Tokyo Electron and Applied Materials withdrew merger plan. Fancl, the maker of nutrition supplements, said sales in May increased 17%.[/R]

Market indexes in Tokyo extended gains and the yen advanced against the U.S. dollar.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 253.95 or 1.3% to 20,428.19 and the broader Topix index jumped 17.60 to 1,648.61.

The yen closed at 122.85 against a dollar.

Stocks in Review

Asahi Kasei Corp gained 1.7% to 1,021 yen after the Nikkei news reported that the petrochemicals company’s operating profit in the first-quarter is estimated to increase 20% compared to a year ago period.

ANA Holdings Inc jumped 2.2% to 321.50 yen after the Nikkei daily said airline holding company’s executive confirmed that there is no stock offering plan to raise capital to buy aircraft in the next two years.

Fancl Corporation fell 0.9% to 1,574 yen after the cosmetics and nutritional supplements maker said total sales in May soared 16.8% to 6.97 billion yen from 5.96 billion yen in a year ago period.

The company added sales from cosmetics division surged 19.2% to 4.32 billion yen and sales from nutritional supplements segment climbed 17.5% to 2.09 billion yen form a year ago period.

Tokyo Electron Ltd slipped 0.8% to 7,880 yen after the electronic products maker failed to win regulatory approval to merge with the U.S.-based Applied Materials Inc as anti-competitive practices.

Companies had agreed to merge in September 2013 for about $10 billion and today cancelled the plan after the regulatory hurdles.