Yen Weakness Lifts Japanese Stocks

123jump.com Staff
21 Jan, 2010
New York City

Stocks in Japan closed higher after the yen weakened. Japanese electronics makers increase after Korean chipmaker Hynix swings to a profit. Insurance companies closed higher after casualty insurers expand in China.

[R]9:00 PM Tokyo, Japan – Stocks in Japan closed higher after the yen weakened. Japanese electronics makers increase after Korean chipmaker Hynix swings to a profit. Insurance companies closed higher after casualty insurers expand in China.[/R]

Tokyo stocks gained after the yen declined against the dollar and Korean memory and chip maker swings to a profit in the latest quarter. The rise in dollar is expected to help Japanese exporters to report higher earnings in the yen.

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 130.89 or 1.22% to 10,868.41 and of the stocks in Nikkei 225 Stock Average, 171 increased, 33 declined and 20 was unchanged.

Insurance stocks led the gainers. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance increased 2.5% to 2,501 yen and Tokio Marine Holdings Inc gained 2.6% to 2,651 yen. Nikkei news reported that insurance companies are looking to expand in China as higher auto and home sales increase demand for property insurance.

American and European investment companies are recommending investing in Japan as earnings in the current year are expected to more than double. The dollar is expected strengthen against the yen and a growth in the U.S. and world economy is expected to drive Japanese companies earnings higher.

Nikkei Movers

Pioneer Corp led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 3.9% followed by losses in Hitachi, Ltd of 3.1%, in Sojitz Corporation of 2.7%, in Shinsei Bank, Limited 2.5% and in Nippon Paper Group, Inc 1.9%.

TDK Corporation led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 4.7% followed by gains in Resona Holdings, Inc 4.6%, in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc of 4.4% and in Sekisui House, Ltd of 4.3%.

Other Movers

Denso Corporation added 3.0% to ¥2,986 and the auto parts maker said it has collaborated with National Instruments for the simplification of robotics development costs.

Fancl Corp the maker of cosmetics and nutritional supplements fell 2.1% to ¥1,844.

Fujiya Co the confectioner added 2.9% to ¥173.00.

Kadokawa Group Holdings Inc. gained 2.4% to ¥2,300 after the publisher was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” at Citigroup Global Markets Japan Inc.

Kinugawa Rubber Industrial Co surged 15.9% to ¥240 after the rubber and resin producer announced that the company has raised the full-year revenue estimate from ¥47 billion to ¥50 billion and operating profit from ¥27 billion to ¥3.7 billion.

Mitsubishi Estate Company, Limited increased 2.6% to ¥1,576 after the company was upgraded to “outperform” from “neutral” at Mizuho Securities Co.

Suncity Co dropped 6.5% to ¥2,206 after the condo developer lowered its consolidated full-year guidance for revenue from ¥20,914 million to ¥19,930 million.

TDK Corporation rose 4.7% to ¥6,120.00 after the maker of magnetic heads used in disk drives was upgraded by Citigroup.