Japan GDP Falls 3.3% in Q4

123jump.com Staff
16 Feb, 2009
New York City

Japan stock indexes were mixed in highly volatile trading as the government announced in a preliminary report the gross domestic product shrank at annual rate of 12.7% in the fourth quarter ended December. In the quarter the GDP declined 3.3% on weak exports adn weak consumption.

[R]5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo - Japan GDP falls 12.7% in the three months to December, the largest quarterly decline in more than three decades. Japan may spend 30 trillion yen on economic stimulus. Tokyo's new condo offerings slide 24.1% in January.[/R]

Japan stock indexes were mixed in highly volatile trading as the government announced in a preliminary report the country's gross domestic product shrank at annual rate of 12.7% in the fourth quarter ended December.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 fell 0.4% or 29.23 to 7,750.17, and the broader Topix Index rose 0.7% or 5.51 to 770.10.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 7.5 billion yen valued at 476 billion yen were traded and in the second section 106 million shares valued at 889 million yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks, 114 rose, 19 dropped, and 20 were unchanged. Shimizu Corp. led gainers in the index shares with a rise of 6.3% followed by Tokyo Marine HD increasing 5.8%.

Japan's GDP Contracts 12.7% in Q4

Japan's Cabinet Office reported today that the country's gross domestic product fell 3.3% from the third quarter and contracted 12.7% in the three months to December from the same period a year ago on slowing exports.

Economists had previous forecasted that the economy will shrink by 11.6% in the period.

Exports of goods and services dropped 13.9% as net exports of goods and services contributed 3 percentage points of the 3.3% slump in GDP.

Domestic demand and private demand tumbled 0.3% and 0.5% respectively, while private consumption and consumption of households both contributed 0.2% to the contraction.

Although private residential investment rose 24.6% in the fourth quarter, private non-residential investment tumbled 19.5% from a year ago. Public investment also dropped 2.5%.

Japan May Spend 30 trillion yen on Economic Stimulus

Nikkei News reported today that Yoshihide Suga of the Liberal Democratic Party said the country might spend an extra 30 trillion yen on the economic stimulus measures.

The report notes that 20 trillion yen and 30 trillion yen will be needed to finance the supplementary budget for fiscal 2009.

Tokyo New Condo-Offering Decline 24.1% in January

Separately the online edition reported that the Real Estate Economic Institute said the number of new condominiums for sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area fell 24.1% to 1,760 units.

Gainers & Losers

Shimuzu Corp. led advancers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 6.3% followed by gains in Tokyo Marine HD of 5.8%, in Olympus Corp. of 5.2%, in CSK Holdings Corp. of 5.1%, and West Japan Railway of 4.9%.

Automakers rose. Suzuki jumped 4.4% and Nissan Motor Corp. advanced 4.4%.

Pioneer Corp. led decliners in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a decline of 8.5% followed by losses in Clarion Co. Ltd of 8%, in Shinsei Bank Ltd. of 5.5%, in GS Yuasa Corp. of 5.4%, and Mazda Motor Corp. of 5.4%.