Japan Indexes Down; Hino, Nintendo in Focus

Darlington Musarurwa
29 Oct, 2009
New York City

Stocks in Japan closed lower tracking losses in Europe and New York. Industrial production gained for the seven month in a row in September with a rise of 1.4%. Hino Motors sales dropped 39% and slipped into a loss in the first half. Advantest Corp reported a wider loss on 64% plunge in sales.

[R]5:00 AM New York, 7:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan closed lower tracking losses in the markets in Europe and New York. Industrial production gained for the seven month in a row in September with a rise of 1.4%. Hino Motors sales dropped 39% and slipped into a loss in the first half. Advantest Corp reported a wider loss on 64% plunge in sales.[/R]

Stocks in Japan fell to the lowest level in nearly three weeks as the markets in New York and Europe fell sharply. The volatility in the commodities markets also dragged stocks of trading companies and banks lower.

Hino Motors Ltd and Advantest Corp declined on losses in the first half.

A government report showing industrial production gained for the seven consecutive month in September failed to lift sentiment.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 Index dropped 1.4% or 137.41 to 10,075.05 and the broader Topix Index fell 0.7% or 6.54 to 882.26.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 26.4 billion shares worth 1.9 trillion yen were traded and in the second section 784 million shares valued at 8.7 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks, 45 rose, 171 declined, and 9 were unchanged. Honda Motor Corp. led gainers in the index shares with a rise of 3.3%.

Japan’s Industrial Production Rises 1.4% in September

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry reported today the country industry production gained 1.4% to 85.1 from the previous month, rising for the seventh straight month.

Industries that contributed to the increase were transport equipment, electronic parts and devices and electrical machinery. Also commodities that led to the rise were large passenger cars, chassis and body parts and small passenger cars.

METI’s survey of production forecast indicated production is expected to gain 3.1% in October and climb 1.9% in November.

The report notes that industries that mainly contributed to the increase in October include general machinery, electronic parts and devices, and information and communications electronics equipment in that order.

Shipments in September jumped 3.4% from the previous month, rising for the seventh consecutive month, led by transport equipment, electronic parts and devices and general machinery, correspondingly.

Inventory remained flat at 0.5% in September from a month earlier.

US Home Sales Fall 11.3% in August

The Standard & Poor/Case-Shiller Index, which gauges home prices in 20 major metropolitan areas, declined 11.3% in August from the same period a year ago.

Economists had forecasted 11.9% decline in the period.

Prices, however, increased 1% in August from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis. Nineteen of the 20 metro areas and both composites showed an improvement in annual rates compared to July.

Gainers & Losers

Advantest Corp dropped 6.6% to 2,065 yen after it reported revenues decline of 64% and wider loss of 8 billion yen compared to a loss of 3.9 billion yen.

Chuo Mitsui Trust dropped 7.6% after its partner in the media speculated merger Sumitomo Trust & Banking recorded a 33% drop in first half profit.

Hino Motors Ltd dropped 8.6% to 337 yen after it reported net loss in the first half of 29 billion compared to a profit of 3 billion yen a year ago period. Sales declined 39% to 392.48 billion yen.

Shipping lines also declined on worries over the global economy. Nippon Yusen shed 2.6% and Kawasaki Kisen dropped 4.5%.

Mitsui & Co. decreased 2.6% and Nippon Oil fell 3% after crude oil prices declined 2.7% to $77.50 per barrel and gold prices tumbled 0.5% to $1,030 per ounce.

Sumitomo Trust & Banking H1 Falls 33%

Sumitomo Trust & Banking reported that its profit for the six months ended September dropped 33% to 19 billion yen from 28.3 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue fell to 420 billion yen from 499 billion yen a year ago.

Nintendo Profit Declines 52% in H1

Nintendo net income in the six months ended September fell 52% to 69.5 billion yen from 144.8 billion yen a year ago.

The company estimated full year loss of 230 billion yen.