Nikkei Extends Gains Ahead of Trade Data

Hiruki Nakamura
20 Oct, 2015
New York City

Nikkei in Tokyo closed higher and awaited international traded data tomorrow. Aeon Co reported first-half sales soared 19%. Genky Stores said estimated annual sales to increase 20% and net income to rise 7%.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei in Tokyo closed higher and awaited international traded data tomorrow. Aeon Co reported first-half sales soared 19%. Genky Stores said estimated annual sales to increase 20% and net income to rise 7%.[/R]

Nikkei average in Tokyo extended weekly gains in active trading ahead of the release of international trade data tomorrow.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 75.92 or 0.4% to 18,207.15 and the broader Topix index rose 4.53 to 1,499.28.

The yen strengthened to 119.60 against a dollar.

Stocks in Review

Aeon Co Ltd slipped 1.2% to 1,792 yen after the financial service provider reported net sales in the first-half ending in August soared 18.7% from a year ago to 4.07 trillion yen.

Net income in the period jumped 5.4% to 2.13 billion yen compared to 2.02 billion yen and diluted earnings per share increased to 2.41 yen from 1.67 yen.

The company forecasted net sales for the year to surge 13% to 8 trillion yen and net income to increase 1% to 42.50 billion yen.

Fancl Corporation fell 1.6% to 1,894 yen after the cosmetics and nutritional supplements seller said total sales in September soared 9.7% to 7.17 billion yen from 6.53 billion yen in a year ago month.

The company said overall sales in the cosmetics business increased 9.1% to 4.21 billion yen and sales in the nutritional supplements segment surged 13.5% to 2.38 billion yen.

Genky Stores, Inc dropped 2.5% to 4,905 yen after the pharmaceutical and cosmetics products retailer said net sales in the first-quarter ending on September 20 jumped 14.4% from a year ago to 18.03 billion yen.

Net income in the period slumped 4% to 437 million yen compared to 455 million yen and diluted earnings per share fell to 62.07 yen from 64.88 yen.

The company forecasted net sales for the year to surge 20.2% to 78 billion yen and net income to jump 7.2% to 2 billion yen.

Takara Holdings Inc soared 6.6% to 845 yen after the brewing company lifted net sales for the first-half ending in September to increase 1.3% to 106.90 billion yen form the previous guidance of 105.50 billion yen.

Net profit in the period is estimated to surge 2.50 billion yen from the earlier forecast of 1.50 billion yen.

Takata Corporation declined 3.4% to 1,364 yen on a report suggesting that the U.S. regulators are likely to expand the investigation into company’s air bag beyond existing 11 auto makers.