Nikkei Drops 1.3% as Stocks Go Ex-Dividend, Asahi Soars 7%

Hiruki Nakamura
28 Sep, 2015
New York City

Nikkei average in Tokyo dropped 1.3% and the yen traded above 120-mark against the U.S. dollar. Suzuki Motor agreed to sell its 1.5% stake in Volkswagen AG to Porsche Automobil SE. Asahi Co soared 7% after profit jumped 22% in the first-half.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei average in Tokyo dropped 1.3% and the yen traded above 120-mark against the U.S. dollar. Suzuki Motor agreed to sell its 1.5% stake in Volkswagen AG to Porsche Automobil SE. Asahi Co soared 7% after profit jumped 22% in the first-half.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo traded lower after China said industrial companies’ profits slid and weak market conditions in New York and in Europe in Friday’s trading.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 235.40 or 1.3% to 17,645.11 and the broader Topix index dropped 15.14 or 1% to 1,438.67.

The yen strengthened to 120.10 against a dollar.

The broader Topix index declined for the sixth time in the seven weeks after more than half the companies in the widely followed index traded ex-dividend.

Stocks in Review

Asahi Co Limited soared 7.1% to 1,344 yen after the bicycles stores operator reported net sales in the first-half ending on August 20 jumped 7.1% from a year ago to 28.11 billion yen.

Net income in the quarter surged 22.1% to 2.15 billion yen compared to 1.76 billion yen and earnings per share increased to 82.21 yen from 67.16 yen in the same period a year ago.

For the year, the company estimated net sales to soar 9.6% to 48.82 billion yen and net income to jump 30.1% to 1.78 billion yen from a year ago.

Kirin Holdings Co Ltd fell 0.2% to 1,613.50 yen after the alcohol beverages and soft drinks maker’s president Yoshinori Isozaki said its plans to concentrate more on its beer business with a new medium-term business plan starting from fiscal 2016.

Suzuki Motor Corp slipped 1.9% to 3.693 yen after the auto maker agreed to sell 4.40 million shares or 1.5% stake in Germany-based Volkswagen AG to Porsche Automobil Holding SE and will book profit of about 36.7 billion yen from the sale.

The auto maker did not disclose the sale price.