Naoto Kan Replaces Fujii in Japan

Mayank Mehta
06 Jan, 2010
New York City

Japan appointed Naoto Kan to the finance minister post after Fujii resigned battling poor health. Kan is known for his critical views of the Bank of Japan. Stocks gained for the third day in a row after energy and resources related companies advanced. Mitsubishi UFJ plans to float yuan bonds.

[R]7:00 AM Tokyo, Japan – Japan appointed Naoto Kan to the finance minister post after Fujii resigned battling poor health. Kan is known for his critical views of the Bank of Japan. Stocks gained for the third day in a row after energy and resources related companies advanced. Mitsubishi UFJ plans to float yuan denominated bonds in China.[/R]

Japan appointed its Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan as its new finance minister after Hirohisa Fujii resigned.

The 63 year old former health minister is not known for his views on the financial markets and his stance on the yen. In the recent past he has been a vocal critic of the Bank of Japan and stressed that the central bank is too optimistic about the economic outlook.

Mr. Kan, the grassroots activist has been liked by voters but his views on the economic policies are not still unknown and may come under pressures from bureaucrats.

Prime Minister appointed the co-founder of the Democratic Party and the minister in charge of economic policy and state strategy to the finance ministry as the government prepares to present its budget to the Parliament in less than few weeks.

Mr. Kan is viewed as someone with political clout and is seen someone who is known to stand up to bureaucrats is also novice in financial matters and not as fiscal conservative as Fujii. Japan is struggling to rein its ballooning budget to nearly 200% of its gross domestic product.

Mr. Kan is the sixth finance minister of Japan in the last eighteen months since August of 2008.

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 49.62 or 0.46% to 10,731.45 and of the stocks in the index 162 increased, 49 declined and 14 were unchanged.

Mitsubishi UFJ plans to be the first company to sell yuan denominated bonds in China to diversify its investor base and increase exposure to Chinese activities.

Nikkei Movers

Japan Airlines Corporation led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 6.6% followed by losses in Casio Computer Co of 2.9%, in Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co of 2.2%, in Terumo Corp 2.1% and in GS Yuasa Corporation 2.0%.

Hitachi Zosen Corporation led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 8.5% followed by gains in Clarion Co 6.4%, in Mizuho Financial Group, Inc of 6.1% and in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc of 5.5%.

Other Movers

ABC-Mart Inc the shoe retailer added 2.7% to ¥2,625.00.

Casio Computer Co decreased 2.9% to ¥727.00 after the maker of G-Shock watches had its rating downgraded to “underweight” from “equal-weight” at Barclays Capital.

Clarion Co the maker of car audio equipment advanced 6.4% to ¥99.00.

Ebara-Udylite Co slipped 2.6% to ¥1,753.00 after the chemical maker announced that it will issue 342,800 new shares of its common stock through public offering, during the period from January 20 to 26. Total shares outstanding will increase 3,593,300.

Gree, Inc fell 7.5% to ¥5,170.00 after the social-networking site operator was downgraded to “equal-weight” from “overweight” at Morgan Stanley.

Hitachi Zosen Corporation the environmental engineering firm gained 8.5% to ¥140.00.

Japan Airlines Corporation dropped 6.6% to ¥84.00 after rallying more than 40% in the previous two sessions.

Mixi, Inc the online social-networking service slipped 8.1% to ¥668,000.

T&D Holdings, Inc rose 4.0% to ¥1,996.00 after the publicly traded life insurer was upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” at Nomura Holdings Inc.