Nikkei in Tokyo Up 1.3%; Asahi, GS Yuasa Soar

Darlington Musarurwa
12 Feb, 2010
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo trading close higher after Asahi Glass, Pacific Metals and GS Yuasa lift earnings estimate. Yamaha estimates better results in the current year. Consumer confidence rises in January. U.S. sales of Nintendo video-game console declines 31% in January. Kirin profit falls 39% in 2009.

[R]5:00 AM New York, 7:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo trading close higher after Asahi Glass, Pacific Metals and GS Yuasa lift earnings estimate. Yamaha estimates better results in the current year. Consumer confidence rises in January. U.S. sales of Nintendo video-game console declines 31% in January. Kirin profit falls 39% in 2009.[/R]

Japanese benchmark index closed higher after the EU leaders pledged to support member nation Greece. Higher profit estimates from Asahi Glass, Pacific Metals and recovering demand at Yamaha Motor boosted sentiment.

Commodities price increase also listed stocks of trading companies.

A government report also showed that consumers are confident about economic conditions in the next six months.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1.3% or 128.2 to 10, 092.19, and the broader Topix Index advanced 1% to 892.16.

In the firsts section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 10.1 billion shares valued at 687 billion yen were traded and in the second section 159 million shares worth 2.1 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks, 165 increased, 47 fell, and 13 were unchanged. GS Yuasa Corp. led gainers in the index shares with a rise of 9.7% followed by Taiheiyo Cement jumping 8%.

Consumer Confidence Rises in January

Japan’s Cabinet Office reported today that the Consumer Confidence Index, which measures economic confidence for the next six months, rose 1.4 points to 39 in January from a month ago.

The index also gained 12.6 points from a year ago.

A measure of overall livelihoods gained to 39.8 from 38.2, while income growth jumped to 37.9 from 36.1 in December.

Employment index climbed to 33.1 in the period from 30.8 a month earlier.

The measure on the willingness to buy durable goods advanced 45.3 in January from 45.1 in December.

U.S. Sales of Nintendo Wii Console Falls 31%

U.S. sales of Nintendo Co’s Wii video-game console dropped 31% to $1.2 billion in January, according to the latest research published by NPD Group in the U.S.

Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 sales increased 36% and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 sales gained 7.7%.

Wii sales in the U.S. are expected to decline in 2010.

The report noted that stores sold 465,800 Wii players compared with 332,800 Xbox consoles and 276,900 Sony’s PS3s.

Kirin Profit Falls 39% in 2009

Kirin Holdings said net profit decreased 38.7% to 49.2 billion yen on special losses and pre-tax profit gained 40.3% to 144.6 billion yen.

The company noted that special losses increased to 96.55 billion yen, including 38.8 billion yen in asset impairment loses. Consolidated operating profit dropped 12% to 128.4 billion yen.

The brewer estimates that group net profit will decline 2.4% to 48 billion yen for 2010.

Nikkei Movers

Tosoh Corporation led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 3.0% followed by losses in Hitachi Zosen Corporation of 3.0%, in Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha of 2.9%, in Hino Motors Ltd 2.9% and in Olympus Corp 2.6%.

GS Yuasa Corporation led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 9.7% followed by gains in Taiheiyo Cement Corp 8.0%, in Pacific Metals Co., Ltd of 7.3% and in Tokai Carbon Co Ltd of 6.9%.

Other Movers

Asahi Glass Company, Limited the glassmaker added 6.8% to ¥946.00 after it estimated net income for the year to increase as much as 400% on the rebound in demand from the emerging markets.

GS Yuasa, the lead storage batteries and other power technology maker surged 9.7% to ¥598 after it revised earnings estimate for the current year by 40% on higher sales in Asia and China.

Mitsui & Co Ltd the trading company rose 5.5% to ¥1,350.00.

Pacific Metals Co., Ltd advanced 7.3% to ¥617.00 after the ferro-nickel producer announced that it has raised its year-end dividend forecast from ¥5.00 per share to ¥8.00 per share, for the fiscal year ending March 2010. The company also lifted its net income estimate 24% for the year.

Yamaha Motor Co decreased 3% to ¥1,174 after it said sales in the current year are estimated to increased 8.4% to ¥1.25 trillion ($14 billion) and report an operating profit of ¥10 billion compared to a loss of ¥62.6 billion.

The second largest motorcycle maker said that global unit sales are expected to increase to 6.55 million and sales in Asia excluding Japan are estimated to increase 14% to 5.69 million. North American unit sales are expected to fall 39% to 56,000.