Tokyo Stocks Powered by Weakening Yen

Mayank Mehta
22 Dec, 2009
New York City

Stocks in Japan closed higher after the yen weakened. Semiconductor equipment makers and exporters led the gainers in Tokyo trading. Honda sales in China and Asia set a new record. Isuzu is exploring new diesel engine development with General Motors.

[R]8:30 AM Tokyo, Japan – Stocks in Japan closed higher after the yen weakened. Semiconductor equipment makers and exporters led the gainers in Tokyo trading. Honda sales in China and Asia set a new record. Isuzu is exploring new diesel engine development with General Motors.[/R]

Stocks in Japan closed higher on Tuesday as the yen weakened against the dollar lifting the prospects of higher earnings at auto makers and electronics exporters. Semiconductor stocks gained on the expectations of rising unit volumes and higher sales prices.

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 194.56 or 1.91% to 10,378.03 and of the stocks in the benchmark index, 185 increased, 22 declined and 18 were unchanged.

The yen dropped to as much as 91.52 against the dollar but closed at 91.57.

Nikkei Movers

Yahoo Japan Corporation led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average index with a loss of 1.6% followed by losses in Kao Corporation of 1.3%, in Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings, Inc of 1.2%, in Nippon Meat Packers, Inc 0.8% and in East Japan Railway Company 0.8%.

Fuji Electric Holdings Co., Ltd led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average index with a rise of 8.2% followed by gains in Isuzu Motors Ltd 6.8%, in Nissan Motor Co Ltd of 6.0% and in Sumco Corporation of 5.8%.

Other Movers

Semiconductor stocks advance as the sales momentum persists in the industry. The chip equipment makers gained on the business strength in the sector.

Advantest Corp increased 4.5% to 2,335 yen and Tokyo Electron Ltd increased 3.8% to 5,730 yen. NEC Electronics Corp surged 7.2% to 759 yen and Fujitsu Ltd added 1.0% to ¥586.00.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd advanced 1.9% to ¥3,080.00 after the automaker said total Japan domestic market auto sales in November increased, its fifth monthly gain in a row.

Honda Fit was the industry''s second best-selling car among new vehicle registrations for the month of November 2009, with sales of 17,178 units. Insight was the industry''s fifth best-selling car with sales of 9,413 units. Freed was the industry''s seventh best-selling car with sales of 9,239 units.

Isuzu Motors Ltd advanced 6.8% to ¥172.00 after the maker of light-duty trucks said President Susumu Hosoi was quoted by the Nikkei news in an interview that the truck maker is exploring General Motors with a proposal to design and develop next-generation diesel engines for the U.S. market.

Kintetsu World Express, Inc declined 4.4% to ¥2,365.00 after the distribution company was downgraded to “neutral” from “outperform” at Credit Suisse Group.

Nippon Yakin Kogyo Co., Ltd dropped 2.7% to ¥361.00 after the stainless steel producer was downgraded to “neutral plus” from “outperform” by Cosmo Securities Co.

Toshiba Corp rose 4.6% to ¥518.00 after the makers of computer-memory chips said the Nikkei reported that the two firms will resume capital spending to boost semiconductor output capacity as demand rebounds.

Toyota Motor Corp rose 2.1% to ¥3,800.00 after the automaker said on Tuesday its global production rose 22% in November from a year earlier to 719,362 vehicles.