Nikkei 225 Gains 0.6% in Volatile Trading

Hiruki Nakamura
29 Dec, 2015
New York City

Stocks in Japan advanced on bargain-hunting and strength in construction and pharmaceuticals. Toshiba seeks a new credit line of 300 billion yen and plans large-scale restructuring. FamilyMart

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan advanced on bargain-hunting and strength in construction and pharmaceuticals. Toshiba seeks a new credit line of 300 billion yen and plans large-scale restructuring. FamilyMart’s sales and operating profits soar. Dydo Drinco completes the acquisition of two beverage business.[/R]

Japanese stocks advanced on Tuesday on the back of strength in defensive sectors and construction and pharmaceuticals stocks.

The market remained volatile and trading volume was low at the end of the year.

The Centre for Economic Research reported that Japan’s GDP grew 0.1% in November as compared to the previous month. Exports rose 1.6%, while imports dropped 0.6%.

In the construction sector, Kumagai Gumi gained 5.8%, Kajima Corp rose 2.3%, and Taisei Corp advanced 1.26%.

Among pharmaceuticals, Kyowa Hakko Kirin jumped 2.7%, while Takeda Pharmaceutical and Daiichi Sankyo added 2.6% each.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 108.88 or 0.6% to 18,982.23 and the broader Topix index gained 14.17 to 1,543.39.

The yen edged down against the U.S. dollar to 120.40.

Stocks in Review

Asahi Group Holdings Ltd increased 0.4% to 3,778 yen on reports that the alcohol beverages maker is in talks to acquire the U.S.-based rival Talking Rain for about 50 billion yen, or $416 million.

Dydo Drinco, Inc slid 0.2% to 5,610 yen after the beverages maker completed acquisition of 49% stake in the beverage business of Malaysian food manufacturer MDD Beverage Sdn Bhd and 51% stake of the beverage business of Milk Specialities Distribution Sdn Bhd.

The total value of the two acquisitions was 2.57 billion yen.

FamilyMart Co Ltd gained 0.7% to 5,630 yen after the Nikkei daily said convenience store operator’s sales in the six months ending in November jumped 10% to 310 billion yen and operating profit soared 20% to 39 billion yen.

The increase is due to new products, a growing network, and a recovery of same-store sales.

Toray Industries Inc gained 1.4% to 1,136 yen on reports that the company’s business in the European, American and China regions was ahead of expectations.

Sales of the plastic and chemical products maker for the nine-month ending in December are expected to soar 10% to 1.6 trillion yen, while operating profit is forecasted to surge 30% to 115 billion yen.

Toshiba Corp gained 2.7% as the company announced plans for large-scale restructuring, funded by a new credit line for 300 billion yen.

The new funding would provide more security for the industrial conglomerate as the conglomerate is recovering from the accounting scandal.

Toshiba plans to cut 6,800 consumer electronics jobs and focus on electronic chips making and nuclear energy business.