Volatile Nikke Drifts Near Six-Month Low on Another Down Day in China

Hiruki Nakamura
02 Sep, 2015
New York City

Volatile Nikkei average closed down after Chinese stocks fell again in a chaotic session. Nikkei lacked direction and the average jumped up and down in most of the session but drifted near six-month low. Daio Paper plunged 18% after the company announced $250 million euro-yen bond offering.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Volatile Nikkei average closed down after Chinese stocks fell again in a chaotic session. Nikkei lacked direction and the average jumped up and down in most of the session but drifted near six-month low. Daio Paper plunged 18% after the company announced $250 million euro-yen bond offering.[/R]

Volatility returned to markets in Japan after another day of losses in Chinese stocks.

Nikkei index stayed in the positive territory in the morning session but struggled to hold gains in the afternoon after another wave of selling overwhelmed indexes.

Nikkei volatility index remained high near 37% and pension fund investors looked for opportunities if the index dropped near 17,000.

The monetary base in August surged 33.3% to 322.93 trillion yen after tumbling 32.8% in July and adjusted monetary base for the year jumped 41%, the Bank of Japan said.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 70.29 or 0.4% to 18,095.40 and the broader Topix index dropped 58.94 or 3.8% to 1,478.11.

The yen strengthened to 120.14 against a dollar.

Stocks in Review

Ain Pharmaciez Inc rose 0.6% to 5,220 yen after the pharmacies and drugstores operator said net sales in the first-quarter ending in July soared 20.3% from a year ago to 52.15 billion yen from 43.35 billion yen.

Net income in the quarter surged 52.7% to 1.53 billion yen compared to 1 billion yen and earnings per share increased to 48.35 yen from 31.67 yen in the same period a year ago.

For the first-half, the tea and drinks maker forecasted net sales to jump 17.5% to 103.67 billion yen and net income to soar 21.2% to 3.06 billion yen.

The company estimated net sales for the year ending in April to surge 16.2% to 218.28 billion yen and net income to increase 16.7% to 7.23 billion yen.

Ajinomoto Co Inc gained 0.5% to 2,562 yen after the flavour seasonings maker’s president Takaaki Nishii said it will invest up to 200 billion yen for acquisitions and alliances by the end of the next fiscal year.

The company is looking for deals in Europe and prioritising growth in Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to at least double revenues by fiscal 2020.

Daio Paper Corporation tumbled 17.8% to 1,174 yen after the paper products maker plans to issue 30 billion yen or $249.90 million worth of euro-yen denominated convertible corporate bonds in domestic market with a maturity date of September 17, 2020.

Sharp Corporation slipped 1.7% to 169 yen after the electric and electronic equipment maker plans to sell one of its two head office buildings in Osaka’s Abeno Ward to furniture retailer Nitori Holdings Co and NTT Urban Development Corp.

The company estimated net loss for the year ending in March 2016 of about 180 billion yen.

Senshu Electric Co., Ltd rose 0.4% to 1,844 yen after the wires and cables wholesale said trader net sales in the third-quarter ending in July jumped 3.5% from a year ago to 57.56 billion yen from 55.60 billion yen.

Net income in the quarter declined 6.2% to 1.09 billion yen compared to 1.16 billion yen and earnings per share fell to 104.20 yen from 111.13 yen in the same period a year ago.