Tokyo Stocks Surge 4.5%

123jump.com Staff
11 Mar, 2009
New York City

Machinery orders in Japan fall 18.5% to 1.2 trillion yen in January and a private report suggested that corporate bankruptcies increase to 1,318 in February, a rise above 1,300 for the first time in six years.

[R]5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo- Japan’s machinery orders fall 18.5% to 1.2 trillion yen in January. Japan’s bankruptcies increase to 1,318 in February.[/R]

The Tokyo benchmark stock index soared 4.5% notwithstanding a government report showing that total machinery orders slipped 18.5% in January.

A private research company Tokyo Research Co also noted that the bankruptcies increased above 1,300 for the first time in six years.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 index rallied 4.6% or 321.14 to 7,376.12, and the broader Topix Index increased 2.7% or 18.78 to 722.28.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 9.2 billion shares worth 584 billion yen were traded and in the second section 637 million shares valued at 633 million yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks, 198 gained, 21 declined, and 6 were unchanged. Credit Saison Co. led gainers in the index shares with a rise of 11.8% followed by Trend Micro Inc increasing 11.3%.

Machinery Orders Fall 18.5% in January

Japan’s cabinet office reported today that the total value of machinery orders received by 280 manufacturers operating in Japan fell 18.5% to 1.6 trillion yen in January from a rise of 10.4% or 1.9 trillion yen in the previous month.

The total value of orders in the three months to December fell 21.7% or 5.7 trillion yen and orders are forecasted to rise 3.5% to 5.9 trillion yen in the March quarter.

Private-sector machinery orders, excluding volatile ones for ships and those from electric power companies, dropped 3.2% to 718.3 billion yen in seasonally adjusted terms from a decline of 1.7% or 751.6 billion yen in December.

Orders in the private sector also slipped 16.7% to 2.4 trillion yen in the December quarter and are forecasted to advance 4.1% or 2.5 trillion yen in the three months to March.

Manufacturing orders also declined 27.4% or 220.2 billion yen from a rise of 7% or 303.3 billion yen the previous month, while orders fell 21.5% to 1.01 trillion yen in the December quarter.

In addition, manufacturing orders are projected to shed 6.8% or 942.3 billion yen in the March quarter.

The cabinet office noted non-manufacturing orders increased 13.5% to 505.2 billion yen in January from a drop of 8.3% to 445 billion yen a month earlier and orders slipped 10.8% or 1.4 trillion yen on the three months ending December.

Non-manufacturing orders are however estimated to soar 11.8% or 1.6 trillion yen in the three months through March.

Government orders jumped 24.2% to 246.6 billion yen from a decline of 17.3% to 198.6 billion yen a year ago, while orders in the December quarter tumbled 1.5% to 655.4 billion yen. Orders are forecasted to increase 17.2% to 2.2 trillion yen.

More Companies Declare Bankruptcy in Feb

Asahi News reported today that Tokyo Research Institute says 1,318 companies with liabilities of more than 10 million yen each declared bankruptcy in February, rising above 1.300 for the first time in six years.

The figure is 10.4% more than the comparable year ago period. According to the report, bankruptcies in fiscal 2008 now top 14,609.

Debts rose to 1.2 trillion yen in February, rising the most since World War II in the period.

Gainers & Losers

Credit Saison led gainers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 11.8% followed by increases in Trend Micro Inc. of 11.3%, in Citizen Holdings of 10.9%, in Mitsumi Electric Co. 10.3%, and Taiyo Yuden.

KDDI Corp. led decliners in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a fall of 5.6% followed by losses in Resona Holdings of 4.6%, in Nippon Telegraph of 4%, in East Japan Railway of 3.5%, and Obayashi Corp. of 3.4%.