Japan Machinery Orders Rise, Nisasn Loss

Darlington Musarurwa
09 Feb, 2009
New York City

The ministry of finance in Japan reported that the current account surplus declined 34.3% to 16.28 trillion yen in 2008, falling the most in three years. Corporate bankruptcies in Japan climbed 15.8% to 1,360 cases in January, increasing the most since 2003.

[R]5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo - Japan machinery orders rise 10.4% in December. Corporate bankruptcies rise 15.8% to 1,360 in January. Current account deficit declined sharply. Nissan records operating loss of 99.2 billion yen in Q3/[/R]

The benchmark index in Tokyo fell after a private report noted corporate bankruptcies rose 15.8% in January and the ministry of finance said the current account surplus fell the most in three years in 2008.

Declines were however pared by news that machinery orders rose more than forecasted in December.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 fell 1.3% or 107.59 to 7,969.03, and the broader Topix Index shed 1.5% or 11.94 to 778.90.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 8.4 billion yen worth 570 billion yen were traded and in the second section 119 million shares valued at 1.1 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks, 121 rose, 60 declined, and 19 were unchanged. Pioneer Corp. led advancers in the index shares with a rise of 8% followed by Fukuoka Financial rising 5.6%.

Machinery Orders Increase 10.4%

Japan''s Cabinet Office reported today that the total value of machinery orders received by 280 manufacturers operating in Japan increased by 10.4% or 1.9 trillion yen in December from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis.

In the three months to December orders declined 21.7% to 5.7 trillion yen from the previous quarter. However orders are forecasted to increase 3.5% to 5.9 trillion yen in the March quarter.

Cumulative orders received in 2008 fell 5.7%, while private-sector orders, excluding volatile ones, dropped 6.0%.

Private-sector machinery orders, excluding volatile ones for ships and those from electric power companies, fell 1.7% to 741 billion yen in December, and slipped 16.7% to 2.4 trillion yen in the October-December period. Orders are projected to increase 4.1% or 2.5 trillion yen in the January- March period.

Manufacturing orders rose 7% to 303.3 billion yen from a decline of 33.2% or 283.4 billion yen the previous month, while orders tumbled 21.5% or 1 trillion yen in the three months to December.

Manufacturing orders are projected to decline 6.8% or to 942 billion yen in the December quarter.

According to the cabinet office, non-manufacturing orders dropped 8.3% or 445.1 billion yen and orders fell 10.8% or 1.4 trillion yen in the three months to December. Orders are however projected to advance 11.8% to 1.6 trillion yen in the three months to March.

Government orders slipped 17.3% or 198.6 billion yen in December from the previous month and shed 1.5% or 655.4 billion yen in the December quarter. In the three months to March orders are forecasted to drop 17.2% to 542.5 billion yen.

In addition, overseas orders jumped 27.6% to 753.9 billion yen in December, but fell 34.2% to 2 trillion yen in the three months to Decembers. Orders are projected to climb 9.7% or 2.23 trillion yen in the January-March period.

Japan Corporate Bankruptcies Rise 15.8% to 1,360

Nikkei News reported today that Tokyo Shoko Research said Japanese corporate bankruptcies climbed 15.8% to 1,360 cases in January, increasing the most since 2003.

The ministry of finance reported that the country''s current account surplus declined 34.3% to 16.28 trillion yen in 2008, falling the most in three years.

In December Japan''s current account surplus fell 92.1% from a year earlier to 125.4 billion yen, after exports slumped 35.1%.

Last year, the trade surplus dropped 67.3% to 4.03 trillion yen as exports plunged 3% and imports increased 8.8%.

Yen Rises

The yen rose 0.6% to 91.51 against the dollar from 91.54 on Friday last week.

Gainers & Losers

Pioneer Corp. led advancers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 8% followed by increases in Fukuoka Financial of 5.6%, in Suzuki Motor of 5.1%, in Sharp Corp. of 4.9%, and Fanuc Ltd of 4%.

Asahi Glass Co. led decliners in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a drop of 10.4% followed by losses in Taisei Corp. of 9.2%, in UBE Industries of 8.2%, in Kajima Corp. of 7.8%, and Shizuoka Bank of 7.1%.

Nissan Posts Operating Loss of 99.2 billion yen in Q3

Nissan Motor Co. reported today that its operating loss rose to 99.2 billion yen in the fiscal third quarter ending December 31 as revenues dropped 34.4% to 1.8 trillion yen driven by a strong yen, declining consumer confidence and a deteriorating global economic environment.

The company''s vehicle sales fell 18.6% to 731,000 units in the October-December period.
Nissan further revised its full-year forecasts to a loss of 180 billion yen on projected full-year revenues of 8.3 trillion yen.