Toyota, Bridgestone Drops; Orix Surges

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

Stocks in Tokyo edged higher and yen declined 1.3%. The commodities prices in the region remained elevated as the optimism about global economy prevailed. Financials and real estate companies led gainers. Orix surged on estimate of 37% income rise but Bridgestone dropped 7% wider loss.

[R]5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo- Toyota Motor Corp loss soars to 437 billion yen.[/R]

Japan stock indexes gained fractionally buoyed by expectations the economy will recover after results of U.S. stress tests of financial institutions injected a bout of confidence into the market.

Japanese banks- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Holdings- that have invested in American financial institutions closed higher after rallying for two days last week. Realty stocks gained as well.

However gains were trimmed by losses at Toyota Motor Co., which was weighed by dropping demand and a rising yen.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 index rose 0.2% or 19.15 to 9, 451.98, and the broader Topix Index advanced 0.6% or 5.10 to 900.45. The yen declined 1.3% to 98.16 against the dollar.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 15.3 billion yen valued at 967 billion yen were traded and in the second section 280 million shares valued at 3.1 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks 129 increased, 85 dropped, and 11 were unchanged. Mizuho Securities led gainers in the index shares with a rise of 14.7%.

Japan Must Cut Jobs, Costs for Aid

Bloomberg News reported today that Liberal Democratic Party’s aviation committee’s chairman Seiichi Ota said in an interview on Friday Japan Airlines Corp. needs to slash its costs by more than the targeted 50 billion yen in order to qualify for aid from public funds.

The airline lost 63 billion yen in the fiscal year ending March 31, recently applied for a 200 billion yen from the Development Bank of Japan.

Japan Air intends to shed 13% of the staff at Japan Airlines International Co. to 14,100 by the end of March 2011. The airline will announce its earnings projection for the current fiscal and its business plan tomorrow.

Toyota’s Loss Rises to 437 billion yen

Toyota Motor Corp. reported on Friday that its net loss in the year ended March 31 soared to 437 billion yen from net income of 1.72 trillion yen in the comparable year-ago period on falling demand and a rising yen.

Net revenues in the period dropped 21.9% to 20.53 trillion yen, while operating income plummeted by 2.7 trillion yen to a loss of 461 billion yen.

The automakers consolidated sales plunged by 1.34 million units to 7.57 million units in the period, with vehicle sales in Japan declining by 243 thousand units to 1.95 million units.

Sales in North America fell 746,000 units to 2.21 million units and declined 222,000 units to 1.06 million units in Europe. In Asia, vehicle sales slipped 51,000 units to 905,000 units.

Toyota estimates a net loss of 550 billion yen for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010. Net revenues are forecasted to fall further 20% to 16.5 trillion yen.

Toyota will launch four hybrid models in Japan and three models overseas within this fiscal year.

Gainers & Losers

Mizuho Securities led advancers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 14.7% followed by rises in UBE Industries of 10.9%, in Secom Co. Ltd of 10.1%, in Sumitomo Trust & Banking of 7.7%, and Sojitz Corp. of 7.2%.

Financial stocks gained on speculation the global economy will recover. Realty stocks increased. Heiwa Real Estate climbed 7% and Sumitomo Realty jumped 6.1%.

Bridgestone Corp. led decliners in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a decline of 7% followed by losses in Clarion Co. Ltd. of 5.8%, in Teijin Ltd. of 5.5%, in Toyota Motor Co. of 4.8%, and Denso Corp. of 4.8%.

Bridgestone Corp. fell after saying it is likely to post a bigger-than-expected loss in the six months ending June 30.

[Nikkei 200 Average Movers

Bridgestone Corporation led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 index of 6.9% followed by losses in Clarion Co Ltd of 5.7%, in Teijin Limited of 5.5%, in Toyota Motor Corporation of 4.7% and in Denso Corporation of 4.7%.

Mizuho Securities Co Ltd led gainers in the Nikkei 225 index with a rise of 14.6% followed by gains in Ube Industries, Ltd. of 10.9%, in SECOM CO., LTD. of 10.0% and The Sumitomo Trust and Banking Company, Limited of 7.6%.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 19.15 or 0.20% to 9,451.98, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 301.92 or 1.74% closed to 17,087.95, CSI 300 index in China lower 63.90 or 2.29% closed to 2,725.32. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 15.70 or 0.40% closed to 3,926.00. The KL Composite index in Malaysia lower 1.28 or 0.12% closed to 1,025.50.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 3.03 or 0.21% to close at 1,415.16. SET index in Thailand closed higher 7.46 or 1.41% to 535.18 and JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 31.79 or 1.71% closed to 1,830.74. The Sensex index in India decreased 193.44 or 1.63% closed to 11,682.99.