Exporters Lift Tokyo Stocks 1%

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

Japan stock averages rose after a weakening yen spurred exporters and steel makers rose after the U.S. steel maker Nucor said its earnings will be higher than the previous estimate. In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 rose 1% or 148.32 at 14,489.44, rising 1.1% for the week, and the broader Topix Index increased 0.3% to 1,428.11.

[R]5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo - Total sub-prime losses at Japanese banks jump to 850 billion yen by end of March.[/R]

Japan stock averages rose after a weakening yen spurred exporters and steel makers rose after the U.S. steel maker Nucor said its earnings will be higher than the previous estimate.

Market sentiment

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 rose 1.03% or 148.32 at 14, 489.44, rising 1.1% for the week, and the broader Topix Index increased 0.3% or 3.66 to 1,428.11.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 11.7 billion shares worth 1.1 trillion yen were traded and in the second section 339 million shares valued at 6.2 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 stocks 143 gained, 74 declined, and 8 were unchanged. Nippon Light Metal led advancers in the index shares with a rise of 6.78% on rising metal prices.

Total subprime losses for Japanese banks at 850 billion yen

Japan’s Financial Services Agency reported on its website today that Japanese deposit taking institutions total subprime-related losses rose to 850 billion yen as of the end of March.

The agency reported that the financial institutions held about 1 trillion yen in sub-prime related investments by the end of March, while large Japanese banks subprime losses topped 775 billion yen and held sub-prime related investments worth 933 billion yen.

Yen weakens

The yen weakened to 106.43 from 105.51 yen against the dollar yesterday after the comments from the European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet suggested that the bank may consider raising interest rates. Yesterday the ECB held its key rate at 4%.

Gainers & Losers

Nippon Light Metal led advancers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 6.78% followed by increases in NGK Insulators of 6.68%, in Fuji Heavy Industries of 6.51%, in Shimizu Corp. of 4.95%, and Fast Retailing of 4.72%.

Nippon Light Metal rose as commodity prices advanced.

Energy stocks also increased as crude oil prices for July delivery increased 4.5% to $127.79 a barrel after the dollar fell against the euro as the ECB hinted that it will increase interest rates next month. Inpex edged up 4% and Nippon Oil advanced 3.31%.

Steel makers also gained after Nucor said earnings this quarter will jump from $1.75 to $1.80 a share, compared with an earlier estimate of earnings per share between $1.55 and $1.60.

Kobe Steel gained 3.71%, JFE Holdings increased 3.61% and Nippon Steel climbed 3.71%. Exporters soared on a weak yen. Canon increased 1.06% and Nikon Corp advanced 2.68%.

Ebara Corp. led decliners in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a drop of 7.60% followed by losses in Japan Tobacco of 5.64%, in Mitsui Chemicals of 4.04%, in Tosoh Corp. of 3.61%, and Nippon Paper Group of 3.26%.

Citigroup to shut outlets in Japan

The Nikkei news reported that Citigroup Inc. said today it will close sales outlets for its Japanese consumer finance business, effectively signaling a pullout by the American banking giant from the consumer loan business.

Asian markets review

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed higher 148.32 or 1.03% to 14,489.44, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index increased 146.89 or 0.61% closed to 24,402.18. In Australia ASX 200 index higher 62.00 or 1.12% to close 5,592.10. In Malaysia KL Composite index increased 25.01 or 2.04% closed to 1,248.57.

In Thailand SET index closed higher 7.51 or 0.93% to 817.33 and Indonesia JSE Index edged increased 2.56 or 0.11% to 2,402.24. Sensex index in India decreased 197.54 or 1.25% to 15,572.18. Market of South Korea was closed today.