Quiet Trading in Tokyo

123jump.com Staff
28 Aug, 2007
New York City

In volatile and thin trading Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo declined. The weak housing market report kept investors nervous. The Ministry of Finance completed $7 billion worth of 20-year bond sales at 2.1%. The auction drew lower response from securities companies. Yen advacned against euro and dollar. Tokyo Stock Exchange launched its first gold ETF. In Asian trading Singapore and Hong Kong led the decliners.

[R]7:00AM New York, 8:00PM Tokyo-Japanese shares retreated on a firming yen, as weak US housing market data sucked out investor confidence. Tokyo Stock Exchange to list exchange-traded fund. Isuzu and Hino sign diesel technology agreement.[/R]

Japanese stocks ended down marginally in mixed trading, dragged by losses in exporters. U.S. inventory of unsold houses climbed 5%, the biggest increase in 17 years kept investors on the edge. Tokyo fell 0.09%, down from a marginal gain of 0.32% on Monday. Of the 225 Nikkei shares, 128 fell, 87 gained while 10 were unchanged.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 lost 0.09% or 13.9 to 16,287.48 in volatile trading led by exporters, as yen firmed against major foreign currencies. Exporters feared foreign earnings would take a hit. Against the euro, the yen was up 157.58 from 158.12 yesterday. To the American dollar, the yen closed up 115.63 from 116 yesterday, tracking firmer gains of as high as 112 reported last week.

The Ministry of Finance completed sale of 20-year bonds worth 800 billion yen at 2.1%. The auction drew bids worth 3.4 times the bond sales lower than 3.63 times in the previous auction in July.

Of the Nikkei 225 shares, exporters fell on concern foreign earnings will fall on a rising yen. Industrials dropped too in mixed trading Nippon Suisan led decliners falling 5.4% followed by Tokyo Dome Corp down 3.10% and Keio Corp lost 2.75%. Mitsubishi UFJ dropped 2.74% while Sumitomo Metals Mining edged lower 2.60%. Paper manufacturing firms, some banks gained. Nippon Sheet Gla led up 4.83% followed by Yahoo Japan Corp up 3.88%. Mitsub Paper rose 3.45% while Kyowa Hakko kog and OKI Electric closed higher 3.10% and 2.88% respectively. Softbank Corp, Bank of Yokohama and Shinsei Bank Ltd all gained over 1.5%. OSI Paper Co Ltd and Nippon Paper Group firmed as well.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange is planning to list an exchange-traded fund that is linked to the price of gold and can be exchanged for the metal, Japan press reports said Monday. The ETF will help TSE’s diversification away from shares and commodities.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc will form a capital alliance with Australian financial service firm Challenger Financial Services Group Ltd by buying firm''s new shares. This may be an extension to Challenger’s Monday announcement that Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. subsidiaries to Mitsubishi UFJ will buy some 40 million Challenger shares at A$5.20. Mitsubishi UFJ closed lower 1.77%.