Wages in Japan Rise; Retailers Jump

123jump.com Staff
03 Mar, 2010
New York City

Stocks in Japan edged fractionally higher after February wages increased. Employers added more overtime to meet a rise in export orders. Toyota sales in the U.S. declined less than expected. Retailers traded higher in Tokyo trading and Fast Retailing led the gainers.

[R]5:00 AM New York, 7:00 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan edged fractionally higher after February wages increased. Employers added more overtime to meet a rise in export orders. Toyota sales in the U.S. declined less than expected. Retailers traded higher in Tokyo trading and Fast Retailing led the gainers.[/R]

Japan’s stock indexes rose after Toyota reported less than expected U.S. sales decline, wages increased in February across the nation on higher overtime and worries related to euro zone receded.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.3% or 31.3 to 10,253.14, and the broader Topix Index jumped 0.3% to 905.65.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 16 billion shares worth 1.2 trillion yen were traded and in the second section 174 million shares valued at 2.9 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks, 89 gained, 122 decreased, and 14 were unchanged. Asahi Glass led gainers in the index shares with a rise of 4.7% and Fast Retailing advanced 4.7%.

Japan’s Wages Rise 0.1% in January

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported today that total cash earnings rose 0.1% to 273,142 yen in January, as contractual cash earnings fell 0.3% to 261,396 yen and scheduled cash earnings decreased 0.5% to 243,861 yen.

Non-scheduled cash earnings advanced 2.2% to 17,535 yen and special cash earnings jumped 10.3% to 11,736 yen.

Total hours worked increased 0.3% to 136.7 hours, scheduled cash earnings soared 0.2% to 127.3 hours and non-scheduled hours rose 3.4% to 9.4 hours.

Toyota U.S. Sales Drop 8.7% in February

Autodata Corp reported yesterday that Toyota’s U.S. sales declined 8.7% to 100,027 vehicles and Honda North American sales edged up 12.7% to 80,671 units.

Nissan North American sales soared 29.4% to 79,189 units from the same period a year earlier.

Mitsubishi’s U.S. sales declined 10.4% to 4,019 units and Mazda sales jumped 4% to 141,535 units in the review period.

Nikkei Movers

JTEKT Corporation led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 4.1% followed by losses in Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd of 3.3%, in COMSYS Holdings Corporation of 2.9%, in Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co., Ltd 2.6% and in SANYO Electric Co., Ltd 2.6%.

Asahi Glass Company, Limited led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 4.6% followed by gains in Fast Retailing Co Ltd 4.6%, in Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd of 3.9% and in Pacific Metals Co., Ltd 3.6%.

Other Movers

Asahi Glass Company, Limited climbed 4.6% to 920.00 yen after the glassmaker said improved new-car sales will likely bring company’s glass business its first operating profit in two years in the current year, CFO Takashi Fujino told reporters today.

The company also plans to invest NT$42 billion in Taiwan to meet the rising demand for specialized glass from local electronics device makers.

Fast Retailing Co. advanced 4.7% to 15,930 yen after wages increased and February same store sales at the company operated stores gained 1.8%.

Japan Rental Housing Investments Inc the investment company rose 1.1% to 128,000 yen.

Jtek declined 4.1% to 910 yen after General Motors recalled 1.3 million vehicles in the U.S. to fix power steering system made by the company.

Mitsubishi Corporation the largest trading company added 2.0% to 2,295.00 yen and Mitsui & Company increased 2.6% to 1,460 yen.

Prospect REIT Investment Corporation the real estate investment trust company climbed 2.5% to 87,400.00 yen.