With Another Punge in China, Nikkei and Asian Markets Fall

Hiruki Nakamura
27 Jul, 2015
New York City

Nikkei in Tokyo declined following a plunge in market indexes in Shanghai and weak commodities prices. Canon Inc said first-half net fell 20%. Hitachi High-Technologies plunged 10% after quarterly results.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei in Tokyo declined following a plunge in market indexes in Shanghai and weak commodities prices. Canon Inc said first-half net fell 20%. Hitachi High-Technologies plunged 10% after quarterly results.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo and Asia were under pressure after volatility perked up in Shanghai market and the reference index plunged 8%, the largest one-day decline in eight years.

Moreover, commodities also declined to a new multi-year low after the latest market plunge in China and crude oil extended six-week decline to 25% and copper and iron ore dropped to a new yearly low.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 194.43 or 0.9% to 20,350.10 and the broader Topix index slipped 17.96 to 1,637.90.

The yen closed at 123.40 against a dollar.

Stocks in Review

Canon Inc decreased 0.7% to 3,909.50 yen after the diversified company reported net sales in the first-half ending in June rose 2% to 1.83 trillion yen from 1.80 trillion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the period plunged 20.5% to 102.13 billion yen compared to 128.46 billion yen and diluted earnings per share dropped to 93.52 yen from 114.47 yen the same period a year ago.

Canon said sales in imaging system and digital camera business declined 5% to 595.2 billion yen but sales in semiconductor lithography and other segments soared 18.7% to 219.7 billion yen.

For the year, Canon forecasted net sales to jump 5.4% to 3.93 trillion yen and net income drop 3.8% to 254.80 billion yen.

Exedy Corporation slid 0.4% to 2,949 yen transmission components maker said net sales in the first-quarter ending in June jumped 5.2% to 64.41 billion yen from 61.22 billion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter soared 20.8% to 2.94 billion yen compared to 2.43 billion yen and earnings per share increased to 61.16 yen from 50.62 yen the same period a year ago.

The transmission components maker forecasted revenues for the year ending in March to climb 5.5% to 270 billion yen and net income to surge 10.5% to 10.50 billion yen.

Hitachi High-Technologies Corp plunged 10% to 2,836 yen after the electronic device maker reported net sales in the first-quarter ending in June edged up 0.6% to 150.60 billion yen from 149.66 billion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter edged down 0.3% to 10.43 billion yen compared to 10.46 billion yen and earnings per share slipped to 56.12 yen from 69.85 yen the same period a year ago.

Hitachi High-Tech forecasted net sales for the first-half ending in September to jump 3% to 310 billion yen and net income to decline 17.7% to 13.90 billion yen.

For the year, the company forecasted net sales to climb 9.3% to 677 billion yen and net income soar 10.6% to 34.40 billion yen.