Nissan Quarterly Loss; Yahoo Japan Surges

123jump.com Staff
29 Jul, 2009
New York City

Nissan reported its third quarterly loss and Honda first quarter net plunged 96%. Yahoo Japan surged after it estimated higher sales and earnings in the second quarter. Nippon steel declined after it estimated loss in the second quarter.

[R]8:00 PM Tokyo, 6:00 AM New York – Nissan reported its third quarterly loss and Honda first quarter net plunged 96%. Yahoo Japan surged after it estimated higher sales and earnings in the second quarter. Nippon steel declined after it estimated loss in the second quarter.[/R]

Stocks in Japan were nearly unchanged in weak trading. Investors generally shy away from trading during the earnings releases.

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 25.98 or 0.26% to 10,113.24. Honda and Nissan reported weak results as auto sales decline around the world.

Gainers & Losers

Hitachi Ltd surged 5.1% to 308 yen after trading volatile in two previous sessions. The stock gained today after JP Morgan lifted its view on the company after the release of its plan to acquire five subsidiaries in the technology and infrastructure area.

Nippon Steel declined 3.5% to 364 yen after it reported first quarter revenues declined 37.8% to 745 billion yen and net loss of 42 billion yen. The steelmaker increased the outlook for sales to 1.55 trillion and lowered the net loss estimate to 60 billion yen frm 80 billion yen.

Mitsui OSK decreased 4% to 570 yen, Nippon Yusen KK declined 2.7% and Kawasaki Kisen decreased 2.5% to 353 yen.

The latest decline in the sector comes after China Cosco reported weak revenues in its container and dry bulk shipping and estimated a loss in the first half of the year ending in June.

Yahoo Japan surged 7% to 33,100 yen after revenues declined 3.2% to 67 billion yen and net income fell 0.4% to 19.23 billion yen. Net income per diluted share increased to 330.81 yen compared to 317.09 yen in the quarter a year ago. The Internet media company reported second quarter revenues between 66 billion yen and 69 billion yen and net income between 19 billion yen and 20.7 billion yen.

Softbank surged 4% to 1,998 yen, the company controls 41% stake in the portal.

Honda Motor increased 1% to 2,770 yen, Nissan Motor increased 0.8% to 631 yen and Toyota Motor decreased 0.2% to 3,800 yen.

Honda first quarter earnings decreased 96% to 7.5 billion yen but lifted its outlook for the year by 38%. Nissan reported first quarter net loss of 16.5 billion yen.

Nikkei 200 Average Movers

Sapporo Holdings Ltd led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 index of 4.8% followed by losses in Taiheiyo Cement Corp of 4.1%, in Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd of 4.0%, in TOTO Ltd of 3.9% and in Trend Micro Inc of 3.8%.

Panasonic Electric Works Co Ltd led gainers in the Nikkei 225 index with a rise of 8.6% followed by gains in Yahoo! Japan Corp of 6.9%, in Nikon Corp of 6.8% and Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co Ltd of 6.0%.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 25.98 or 0.26% to 10,113.24, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 489.04 or 2.37% to 20,135.50 and CSI 300 index in China lower 197.31 or 5.25% to 3,558.51. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 26.70 or 0.64% to 4,142.80. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed lower 7.90 or 0.67% to 1,164.48.

The Kospi Index in South Korea decreased 1.71 or 0.11% to close at 1,524.32. SET index in Thailand closed lower 7.08 or 1.14% to 614.88 and JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 11.29 or 0.50% to 2,225.81. The Sensex index in India decreased 158.48 or 1.03% to 15,173.46.