Tokyo Stocks Fall, Nomura Loss

Darlington Musarurwa
26 Jan, 2009
New York City

Stocks in Japan fell on the worries that auto exports and domestic sales will fall. Media reports also suggested that Nomura may suffer a loss of as much as 300 billlion in the latest quarter largely on Madoff scandal in the U.S. Nissan predicts a sharp fall in global vehicle sales.

[R]5:00AM New York. 7:00PM Tokyo – Nomura loss is estimated at 300 billion yen in the fourth quarter.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo trading fell on the continued downgrade of earnings and sales forecasts by companies as the economic recession continue to deepen.

News reports indicate Japan''s biggest brokerage Nomura Holdings may report as high as 300 billion yen in the three months to December.

Automaker Nissan Motor Corp. also reported that it projects global vehicle sales to plunge 14% in fiscal 2009.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 index fell 0.8% or 63.11 to 7,682.14, and the broader Topix Index shed 0.7% or 5.27 to 768.28.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 7.3 billion shares worth 457 billion yen were traded and in the second section 110 million shares valued at 1.1 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks, 74 increased, 139 declined, and 12 were unchanged. Kirin Holdings led advancers in the index shares with a rise of 4.5% followed by Mitsui OSK Lines gaining 3.8% after the a measure of freight charges for raw materials gained 3.7%.

Nomura Fourth Quarter Loss

Nikkei News reported yesterday that Nomura Holdings is forecasted to report a net loss of 300 billion yen in the fourth quarter, the largest quarterly loss in eight years.

The report notes that Nomura, which fell victim to a pyramid scheme by U.S. fund manager Bernard Madoff, will book a net loss of 400 billion yen for April through December.

The brokerage revenue in the three months to December will be whittled because of “depressed securities trading.”

Nomura will also book a loss associated with the purchase of regional operations of collapsed Lehman Brothers in Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and the Indian IT units.

Nissan''s Annual Loss to Rise to 100 billion yen

Nikkei News reported on Friday last week that Nissan Motor Corp. is likely to realize its first loss in 14 years at 100 billion yen.

The report notes that the loss could even double if sales drop in the three months to March.

Japan''s eight automakers expected to cut domestic production by 40% from a year ago to 1.7 million in the quarter to March.

Gainers & Losers

Kirin Holdings led gainers in the Nikkei 225 index stocks with a rise of 4.5% followed by increases in Mitsui OSK Lines of 3.8%, in Heiwa Real Estate of 3.5%, in Mitsubishi Chemicals of 3.2%, and Nippon Paper Group of 3.1%.

Mitsui OSK Lines rose after a gauge of freight charges for raw materials edged up 3.7%.
Nippon Sheet Glass led decliners in the Nikkei 225 index stocks with a fall of 11.4% followed by losses in Sumitomo Osaka of 9.9%, in Fujikura Ltd. of 8.8%, in CSK Holdings of 8.6%, and in Meidensha Corp. of 8.1%.

Realty stocks declined after Pacific Holdings delayed its earnings release. Mitsui Fudosan dropped 5.9%, Mitsubishi Estate shed 5.8% and Sumitomo Realty plunged 5%.

Global Vehicle Sales Projected to Decline 14%

Bloomberg News reported today the Nissan''s chief executive officer Carlos Ghosn said it projects global sales to slip 14% to 55 million units in 2009.

Ghosn said it will tale seven year for sales to return to peak levels.

Separately, the Nikkei News reported today that group sales by Toyota Motor Co. will fall 7% below the level projected for fiscal 2008 and drop 20% from the peak in fiscal 2007 to over 7 million vehicles.