Nikkei Down 1.1%; Mitsubishi, AEON Alliance

123jump.com Staff
16 Dec, 2008
New York City

In Tokyo stock indexes fell 1.1% ahead of the rate decision in the U.S. Market also awaited for clues from earnings of Goldman Sachs. Toyota Motors is expected to seek price reduction from steelmakers as early as January. Mitsubishi Corp acquired 4.6% stake in AEON and develop business in Japan.

[R]5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo - AEON forms tie-up with Mitsubishi Corp.[/R]

Stocks in Japan fell on cautious trading ahead of the Fed Reserve decision and results from Goldman Sachs.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 index fell 1.1% or 96.64 to 8,568.02, and the broader Topix Index slid 2.2% or 18.31 to 828.62.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 19.3 billion shares worth 1.3 trillion yen were traded and in the second section 504 million shares valued at 3.6 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks, 45 rose, 176 declined, and 4 were unchanged. GS Yuasa Corp. led advancers in the index shares with a rise of 10.9% followed by Chiyoda Corp. increasing 5.5%.

AEON Co. Ltd. in Tie-Up with Mitsubishi Corp.

Mitsubishi Corporation and AEON Co. Ltd. reported in a filing to the Tokyo Stock Exchange that the companies recently established a comprehensive business alliance.

Mitsubishi had bought 4.59% of AEON outstanding shares, or 4.59% of AEON''s issued share capital at the end of November 12 at 36.8 billion yen, and will shore up its equity to to 5.05%.

“To overcome these economic conditions and achieve stable economic growth over the long term, Japan must shift the fulcrum of their economic growth models from export dependency to growing internal demand,” said the two companies in a statement.

Household Financial Assets Fall 5.2% to 1.4 trillion yen

The Bank of Japan reported today that the outstanding balance of financial assets held by the country''s households dropped 5.2% to 1.4 trillion yen at the end of September.

The financial assets slumped below 1.5 trillion yen for the first time since March.

Gainers & Losers

GS Yuasa Corp. led gainers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 10.9% followed by increases in Chiyoda Corp. of 5.5%, in Advantest Corp. of 5.2%, in Sompo Japan Insurance of 4.7%, and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding of 4.3%.

Shipping lines traded higher. Hitachi Zosen advanced 3.7%.

Sumitomo Osaka led decliners in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a fall of 9.3% followed by losses in Furukawa Electric of 6.1%, in JFE Holdings of 5.9%, in Sony Corp. of 5.9%, and Sumitomo Trust & Banking of 5.6%.

JFE Holdings and other steelmakers fell after the Nikkei newspaper reported that Toyota may ask steelmakers including Nippon Steel to reduce prices on steel sheets by 30% to 70,000 yen a ton.

The two companies will start negotiations in January.