Exporters Fall Hard in Tokyo; Sony Loss

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

Stocks in Tokyo were hit hard after the unexpected fall in monthly U.S. retail sales. The recent rally of stocks was already losing its steam as investors are increasingly turning cautious. Sony, Inpex, NEC Electronics declined but NTT Group gained after the release of earnings.

[R]7:00PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo were hit hard after the unexpected fall in monthly U.S. retail sales. The recent rally of stocks was already losing its steam as investors are increasingly turning cautious. Sony, Inpex, NEC Electronics declined but NTT Group gained after the release of earnings.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo dropped after the release of weak retail sales in the U.S. April sales declined and the weakness was broad based from electronics, apparel and automotives.

The news could hardly be good for traditional exports from Japan. Toyota Motor declined 4.1%, Sony Corp dropped 5.1% and other leading exporters such as Pioneer, Fuji Heavy, Isuzu, NEC, Canon, Fujitsu and Nissan declined more than 4%.

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed lower 246.76 or 2.64% to 9,093.73. Of the stocks in the index only 22 increased and the rest declined. The strength in the yen also weighed on the market. Yen climbed as high as 95.20 to a dollar.

Gainers & Losers

Exports and international trading linked companies fell after the prospect of speedy recovery dimmed in the U.S.

Toyota Motor declined 4.1% to 3,510 yen as exporters and automakers led the decliners.

Sony Corp declined 5% or 130 yen to 2,445 yen and after the close it released weak earnings and forecasted a loss in the current fiscal year.

Mitsubishi Corp declined 5% or 87 yen to 1,639 yen, Mitsui & Company fell 5.3% or 62 yen to 1,117 yen and Marubeni Corp fell 4.5% or 19 yen to 403 yen.

Inpex dropped 6.1% or 44,000 yen to 682,000 yen after it released earnings. Sales for the fiscal year ending in March 2009 declined 10.5% to 1.07 trillion yen and net income fell 16.3% to 145 billion yen.

NEC Electronics dropped 11% to 923 yen after it reported fiscal year ending in March 2009 sales decline of 20.5% to 546.5 billion yen and net loss increase to 82.6 billion yen from 16 billion yen.

The company also appointed new chief executive and president Junshi Yamaguchi and will replace Toshio Nakajima who will become adviser to the company as of June 25 of this year.

NTT Group increased 1.8% to 3,960 yen after it reported earnings and proposed to hike dividend. The company reported for the fiscal year ending in March 2009 operating revenue declined 2.5% to 10.4 trillion yen and net income fell 15.2% to 538.7 billion yen.

The company estimates mobile subscribers to increase to 55.76 million in the current fiscal year, an increase of 1.2%. Average revenue per subscriber is expected to decline 5,710 yen to 5,280 yen.

Earnings Review

Sony Corporation, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company reported fourth quarter revenues fell 26% to ¥1.36 trillion from ¥1.83 trillion a year ago. Net loss in the year was ¥165.1 billion compared to net income of ¥29.0 billion a year ago.

Revenues for the fiscal year 2008 fell 13% to ¥7.73 trillion from ¥8.87 trillion a year ago. Net loss in the year was ¥98.9 billion or ¥98.59 per diluted share compared to net income of ¥369.44 billion or ¥368.33 per share a year ago.

Nikkei 200 Average Movers

Pioneer Corporation led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 index of 12.9% followed by losses in Alps Electric Co Limited of 10.7%, in JTEKT Corporation of 9.9%, in Ntn Corporation of 9.6%.

COMSYS Holdings Corporation led gainers in the Nikkei 225 index with a rise of 12.0 % followed by gains in Meidensha Corporation of 8.0%, in Mitsubishi Rayon Company Limited, of 2.0% and Eisai Co., Ltd. of 1.9%.

Asian Markets Review

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed lower 246.76 or 2.64% to 9,093.73, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index decreased 517.93 or 3.04% closed to 16,541.69. In Australia ASX 200 index lower 132.70 or 3.44% to close 3,723.40. In Malaysia KL Composite index decreased 10.85 or 1.06% closed to 1,011.99.

In South Korea Kospi Index decreased 33.57 or 2.37% to close at 1,380.95, in Thailand SET index closed lower 26.16 or 4.73% to 526.55 and Indonesia JSE Index edged decreased 66.33 or 3.58% to 1,785.00. Sensex index in India decreased 146.74 or 1.22% to 11,872.91.