Tokyo Declined on Weak Financials, Realtors

123jump.com Staff
16 Nov, 2007
New York City

Stocks in Japan fell on Friday and for the week. Nikkei 225 Index declined 1.5% for the week and lost 1.6% on Friday to close at 15,154.61. The Deputy Gevernor of the Bank of Japan said that the weakness in the U.S. housing market may hurt exporters in Japan but there are no signs of that for now. Real estate companies fell sharply after home sales fell in Tokyo.

[R]6:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo – Tokyo closes the week down 1.57% led by financial and realty stocks. Deputy Governor of Bank of Japan Toshiro Muto says U.S. housing slump could affect economic growth in Japan.[/R]

Japan’s stock averages closed the week down 1.5% on retreat of financial and realty stocks.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 dipped 1.57% or 241.69 to 15,154.61, while the broader Topix Index shed 1.8% or 27.19 to 1,471.67.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 7.9 billion shares worth 965 billion yen were traded compared to 8.9 billion shares valued at 1.1 trillion yen traded yesterday, and 216 million shares valued at 3.6 billion yen changed hands in the second section.

Of the Nikkei 225 stocks 39 gained, 179 declined, and 7 were unchanged. Asahi Breweries led gainers, rising 6.02% as investors opted for defensive stocks.

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Toshiro Muto said in an interview yesterday turbulence in the financial markets could affect Japan’s economic growth and make it difficult to decide the appropriate time to raise the interest rate. Commented Muto: “We have repeatedly said we’ll raise interest rates in accordance with the improvements in the economy and prices; we don’t have any pre-determined schedule.”

Muto also added that tighter credit conditions and the U.S. housing slump have not yet affected spending by consumers and companies, adding that the sharp fall in housing starts could be contained.

According to Muto, Japan’s economic growth will average over 2% over the next two years through March 2009, while core consumer prices, excluding fresh food, would enter “positive territory” from the end of the year or towards the beginning of next year.

Minutes of the Bank of Japan Monetary Policy meeting released today showed housing investment is likely to remain sluggish in the short-term and would regain against the backdrop of rising household incomes and accommodative financial environment.

Furthermore, the minutes also showed that annual rate of change in the CPI had been flat, and is expected to remain flat in short run.

Japan Times reported today that the Shinko Research Institute has projected that group pre-tax profits of major companies is estimated to be the fifth record in a row to 18.1 trillion yen in the fiscal first half.

Financial stocks fell on bearish sentiment after Wells Fargo, one of the largest banks in the U.S. said that the current housing slump is the worst since the Great Depression. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 2.91%, Mizuho Financial Group declined 2.56% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group plunged 1.87%.

Real estate stocks retreated on the news that condominium sales in the greater Tokyo area dropped 9.1% in October from a year ago. Mitsubishi Estate Company plummeted 5.02% and Mitsui Fudosan fell 4.38%.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange plans to list 50 exchange traded funds. The ETFs are basket of stocks helping investors to take exposure to a industrial sector, investment strategy, or country focused investment index. TSE plans to increase the total number of index to 100 in the next two years. Japan’s Financial Services Agency notes that Deutsche Borse AG, London Stock Exchange, and NYSE Group Inc have more than 100 ETFs.

Of the Nikkei 225 Index shares, Asahi Breweries led gainers, followed by increases of 5.06% in Shinsei Bank Limited, 3.61% in Bank of Yokohama, 3.37% in Japan Tobacco and 2.70% in Meiji Seika.

Kumagai Gumi led decliners in the index with a fall of 9.40%, followed by losses in Dowa Holdings of 7.70%, Toho Zinc Company of 7.63%, Nippon Soda Company of 7.28% and Nippon Light Metal of 6.48%.

The yen traded at elevated level to 110.24 from 110.26 against the dollar and 161.22 from 116.25 against the euro. Sony Corp dipped 1.11%, Toyota Motor Company slumped 1.77%, and Canon slipped 1.26%.