Shipping Lines, Stocks in Tokyo Fall

123jump.com Staff
04 Sep, 2008
New York City

Stocks in Japan fell on weak tech and commodities sectors. Honda sales in the U.S. rise as Asian car makers increase market share in August. In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 fell 1.04% or 131.93 to 12,557.66, and the broader Topix Index fell 1.6% or 18.90 to 1,201.65. Asian auto makers increased their U.S. market share in August to 47.3%. Shipping lines also declined as the Baltic Dry Index plunged 5% yesterday on worries China

[R]5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan fell on weak tech and commodities sectors. Honda sales in the U.S. rise as Asian car makers increase market share in August.[/R]

Japan stock indexes fell on weak commodities and tech stock as oil prices continued to fall and the U.S. flat panel glass maker Corning Inc. slashed its third quarter earnings forecast.

Market Sentiment

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 fell 1.04% or 131.93 to 12,557.66, and the broader Topix Index fell 1.6% or 18.90 to 1,201.65.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 10 billion shares worth 1 trillion yen were traded and in the second section 155 million shares valued at 2 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 stocks 50 rose, 170 declined, and 5 were unchanged. Fast Retailing led advancers in the index shares with a rise of 4.85% followed by Yokohama Rubber increasing 3.77% as crude oil prices traded below $107 per barrel.

Corning Slash Q3 Earnings Outlook

Corning Inc. ((GLW)) reported on its Web site today that the company has lowered its earnings guidance for earnings per share to $0.43 to $0.45 per share from the previous forecast of $0.48 to $0.51 per share.

Also sales projections are now expected to fall to between $1.58 to $1.62 billion from $1.65 billion and $1.72 billion in previously disclosed guidance. Third quarter gross margin expectation is now forecasted to fall from 50% to 47%.

Corning chairman and chief executive officer Wendell P. Weeks observed, “We continue to see evidence of ongoing strength in the retail market for LCD TVs, a key growth area for the LCD glass industry. However, the supply chain correction, as outlined in our second-quarter conference call, is taking longer than we expected.”

Panel makers have reduced prices and utilization rates to balance the supply chain as set assemblers have continued to hold back on orders, and utilization cutbacks are expected to continue into September in Taiwan.

The company said it has experienced lower-than-expected sales in its Environmental Technologies segment, with sequential sales now expected to be fall 10% from the previous forecast as a result of continued weakness in the automotive and heavy-duty truck industries.

Asians Automakers Gain U.S. Market share

Autodata Corp. reported on its Web site that Asian auto makers increased their U.S. market share in August to 47.3%.

General Motors sales fell 18.1% to 2.1 million units from a year earlier, while U.S. sales for Chrysler and Ford declined 24.2% to 1.07 million units and 15.6% to 1.4 million units respectively.

Honda Motor Corp. sales rose 1.7% to 1.08 million units and Toyota Motor sales fell 7.8% from a year ago to 1.6 million units. Nissan sales gained 1% to 726,133 units, Mitsubishi Motors and Mazda fell 22.4% to 72,727 units and 2% to 199,239 units in that order.

Subaru America rose 5.9% to 129,298 units, Isuzu fell 20.9% to 3,930 units, and American Suzuki dropped 5.3% to 70,430 units.

Gainers & Losers

Fast Retailing led advancers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 4.85% followed by increases in Yokohama Rubber of 3.77%, in Sumco Corp. of 3.69%, in Ricoh Co. Ltd of 3.41%, and Ajinomoto Co. Inc of 3.24%.

Resona Holdings led decliners in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a fall of 13.40% followed by losses in Credit Saison Co. of 9.42%, in Hino Motors Ltd. of 8.44%, in Isuzu Motors of 8.22%, and Chiyoda Corp. of 7.42%.

Honda Motor Corp. gained 3.12% on a rise in U.S. sales. Hino Motors declined after Lehman Brothers lowered its rating to “equal-weight” from “overweight.”Other automakers fell on reduced car sales in the U.S. in the wake of slowing demand.

Shipping lines also declined as the Baltic Dry Index plunged 5% yesterday on worries China’s imports of iron ore will fall. Also UBS cut its outlook today for shipping lines to “negative” on reduced demand growth, excessive supply, and rising price competition.

Mitsui OSK Lines slumped 7.31%, Kawasaki Kisen dropped 5.92% ad Hitachi Zosen plummeted 5.13%.

Commodity stocks fell on falling oil prices and as gold futures for December delivery slid 0.3% to $808.20 an ounce. Mitsui & Co. dipped 5.84%, Kobe Steel lost 5.12% and Sumitomo Metal Mining fell 4.71%.

Tech stocks fell. Nikon Corp. fell 5.25%, Tokyo Electron fell 4.40% and Toshiba Corp. slipped 4.26%.