Leading Indicators Index Declines

123jump.com Staff
06 Mar, 2008
New York City

Leading indicators index of the Japan economy in January declined indicating economic slowdown. Only a day ago the government had reported a decline in capital spending and consumer confidence is on the decline. Despite the gloomy economic statistics, stocks rose tracking the gains in the U.S. markets. Amgen will pay $100 million to Kyowa Hakko for the rights to inflammation in non-oncology setting. The license may be expanded with the additional payment of $420 million.

[R]5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo – The government is still undecided with the BOJ governor appointment. Economic indicators index showed economic slowdown.[/R]

Leading indicators index of the Japan economy in January declined indicating economic slowdown. Only a day ago the government had reported a decline in capital spending and consumer confidence is on the decline. Despite the gloomy economic statistics, stocks rose tracking the gains in the U.S. markets.

Market Sentiment

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 rose 1.88% or 243.36 to 13,215.42, and the broader Topix Index gained 1.9% or 24.70 to 1,287.55.

Of the Nikkei 225 stocks 191 gained, 27 declined and 7 were unchanged. Kyowa Hakko Kog led advancers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 10.64% followed by Fujikura Ltd climbing 7.05%.

Crude Oil record increase

Crude oil for April delivery rose 5% to $104.52 a barrel yesterday after OPEC maintained that it will not raise its production target and the U.S. Energy Department indicated that fuel inventories fell by three million barrels when they are supposed to be rising. Also, Venezuela set its tanks to the Colombian border further raising tensions in the region.

Gasoline prices rise

Japan Times reported that the Oil Information Center said today the nationwide price of a liter of regular gasoline rose for the first time in 11 weeks at the beginning of this week to 151.90 yen per liter. The recent increase in retail price has followed a price hike by the oil importers.

Commodity prices surge

Commodity prices continue to rise driven by a slumping dollar that forced investors to seek alternative investment options. Copper for delivery in three months increased 0.9% to $8,720 a metric ton, and nickel increased 2.7% to $34,300 a ton.

Aluminum for delivery in three months rose 0.5% to $3,221.25 a ton.

Leading Index falls

The Cabinet Office reported on its web site that the Leading Index, which measures how the economy will fare in the next three to six months, fell to 30% in January from 50% in December. The Coincident Index, which gauges the state of the economy, fell to 22% from 63.6% the previous month.

Also the Lagging Index plummeted to 62.5% from 66.7% a month ago.

Gainers & Losers

Kyowa Hakko Kog led advancers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 10.64% followed by gains in Fujikura Ltd of 7.05%, in Sumco Corp. of 6.93%, in Sumitomo Chemical Co of 6.68%, and in Okuma Corp 0f 6.38%.

Inpex also rose 5.98% after crude oil traded above $104 per barrel yesterday. Mitsubishi Corp and Nippon Light Metals increased 4.04% and 3.95% respectively as commodity prices gained.

Exporters gained tracking the U.S. market volatility. Canon Inc increased 2.20%, Sharp advanced 1.56% and Sony gained 0.41%.

NGK Insulators led decliners in the Nikkei 225 stocks with a slump of 3.72% followed by losses in Kumagai Gumi Co of 2.70%, in Osaka Gas Co Ltd of 2.69%, in Nippon Steel of 2.49%, and in Konica Minolta Holdings of 2.44%.

Amgen and Kyowa Hakko in exclusive license agreement

Amgen and Kyowa Hakko have entered in an agreement for a licensing of inflammation and oncology drug treat cancer patients.

Under the terms of the deal, Amgen will make an upfront payment to Kyowa Hakko of $100 million. Kyowa Hakko could receive up to $420 million in additional payments, including development, approval and sales milestones. Kyowa Hakko will also be entitled to receive double digit royalties on sales, according to the press release.

KW-0761 is currently being studied in inflammation and oncology settings. Kyowa Hakko has completed Phase 1 studies of KW-0761 in healthy volunteers and allergic rhinitis patients, and is currently conducting Phase 1 studies of KW-0761 in lymphoma patients.

Amgen will initially acquire rights in all non-oncology indications, and Kyowa Hakko will continue its development activities in oncology until the completion of Phase 2a. At that time, Amgen may elect to reimburse Kyowa Hakko for its oncology-related development costs, expand its license to include oncology and assume the development and commercialization of KW-0761 in oncology settings.

Sky Perfect JSAT increases dividend

Sky Perfect JSAT Corp. rose after it said yesterday it increased its annual dividend by 50% to 1,500 yen per share and said it will cancel 6.76% of outstanding stock.

The company also increases its annual net income forecast for the group by 77% because of higher dividend payments from subsidiaries.