Thirteenth Annual Retail Sales Decline in Japan

Darlington Musarurwa
22 Jan, 2010
New York City

Japan supermarket sales fall 5% to 1.2 trillion yen in December and annual sales declined for the thirteenth year in a row. Toyota Motor Corp. recalls 2.3 million cars to fix sudden acceleration.

[R]5:00 AM New York, 7:00 PM Tokyo - Japan supermarket sales fall 5% to 1.2 trillion yen in December and annual sales declined for the thirteenth year in a row. Toyota Motor Corp. recalls 2.3 million cars to fix sudden acceleration.[/R]

Banks dropped sharply in Tokyo trading on the worries that the proposed plan by the U.S. President Obama may be adopted in Japan and Europe, limiting risk taking by banks and curbing future profits.

President Obama said that conditions that caused the current economic recession and bank failures still exists and some banks remain too big to fail. He added that his plan to separate risk taking activities from the deposits controlled by banks will save future bailouts.

Investors worried that China will be forced to tighten lending and slower loan growth to stem the economy from overheating. Gross domestic product in the last quarter in China was 10.7% and in 2009 was 8.7% above the government target of 8%.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 2.6% or 277.86 to 10,590.55, falling 3.6% for the week, and the broader Topix Index decreased 1.6% to 940.94, declining 2.6% for the week.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 2.8 billion shares worth 1.9 trillion yen traded and in the second section 367 million shares valued at 2.8 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks, 12 rose, 210 fell, and 3 were unchanged. Pioneer Corp. led gainers in the index shares with a rise of 5.1% followed by Clarion Co. Ltd advancing 3.7%.

Japan Supermarket Sales Fall 5% in December

Nikkei News reported that Japan Chain Stores Association said supermarket sales dropped 5% to 1.2 trillion yen in December from a year ago.

Sales decreased 4.3% to 12.8 trillion yen in 2009, falling for the thirteenth year in a row.

Toyota Recalls 2.3 million Cars

Toyota Motor Corp. has recalled 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S for sticking accelerator pedals.

The recall affects the 2009-2010 RAV4, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2007-2010 Camry, 2010 Highlander, 2007-2010 Tundra and 2008-2010 Sequoia.

Toyota U.S. executive Iry Miller said, “Our investigation indicates that there is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may, in rare instances, mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position.”

Nikkei Movers

Citizen Holdings Co., Ltd led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 5.3% followed by losses in Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd of 5.2%, in Mitsumi Electric Co Ltd of 5.2%, in Fukukawa Co Ltd 5.1% and in Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd 5.0%.

Pioneer Corporation led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 5.0% followed by gains in Clarion Co Ltd 3.6%, in Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd of 2.9% and in Resona Holdings, Inc of 2.3%.

Other Movers

Aisin Seiki Co decreased 3.9% to ¥2,675.00 after the auto-parts maker was downgraded to “neutral” from “outperform” at Mizuho Securities Co.

The Eighteenth Bank, Limited the regional bank fell 3.4% to ¥278.00.

Haseko Corporation added 1.2% to ¥82.00 after the general contractor was upgraded to “outperform” from “neutral” at Credit Suisse Group.

Hitachi, Ltd rose 2.2% to ¥316.00 after the electronics company was upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” at Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Jeans Mate Corp plunged 10.3% to ¥457.00 after the casual-wear retailer announced that it has lowered its consolidated full-year guidance for revenue from ¥17,750 million to ¥16,700 million.

Next Co the property information provider gained 5.4% to ¥116,000.

Sourcenext Corp the software developer surged 22.9% to ¥26,800.

Toyota Motor Corporation declined 3.2% to ¥4,055 and the automaker recalled 2.3 million autos in the U.S to fix sudden acceleration problem.