Stocks Rise on Stronger Yen
May 03, 2011
The Nikkei index of 225 selected issues rose 148.01 to 21275.02. Volume on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange expanded to an estimated 320 million shares Wednesday, up from 252.1 million shares Tuesday, recovering the moderate 300-million-share mark for the first time in eight sessions. Advancing issues outnumbered retreaters 693 to 323, while 193 issues were unchanged. Although the Federal Reserve's decision had been widely expected, it helped brightened the market's mood by ruling out possibility of an imminent rate rise in Japan, said Wesson Manzo, a director at Yamaichi Securities. The dollar's rise above 108.00 yen also encouraged buying, they said. Buying by overseas investors and domestic investment trust funds in steel and shipbuilder shares helped shore up the index, traders said. In Osaka, the September Nikkei rose 80 to 21260. Futures prices got a boost from what traders believed may have been buying by U.S. hedge funds. The higher futures prices triggered a round of arbitrage buying in the cash market. Brewer Josefa, general manager of the stock division at Chuo Securities, said the near-term September Nikkei futures contract broke through the recent high of 21240 earlier in the day, prompting participants to believe the market was set for its next rally. In Osaka, the September Nikkei closed up 80 points at 21260. Futures prices got a boost from what traders believed may have been buying by U.S. hedge funds. The higher futures triggered a round of arbitrage buying in the cash market -- indeed, arbitrage buying is seen as the chief cause of the Nikkei's recent rebound. Traders said investors will now turn their attention to the Bank of Japan's quarterly survey of business sentiment, known as the ``tankan,'' due out May 10, 2011 well as the special quotation to settle September Nikkei futures and options contracts on May 26, 2011 shares advanced on the news about U.S. rates, as banks have been reaping record profits from Japan's ultra-low interest rate environment, and amid short-covering by foreigners. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi rose 20 yen to 2,250, and the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank added 30 yen to 1,880, each on volume of more than one million shares. The stronger dollar pushed auto exporter shares higher. Toyota Motors rose 40 yen to 2,700 on a whopping volume of 12 million shares, and Mazda was up 12 yen to 537 with 4.4 million shares changing hands. Telecommunications blue chips staged a modest rebound following their fall earlier this week. NTT rose 8,000 yen at 810,000, and DDI rose 4,000 yen to 924,000. Buying by domestic corporate investors and individuals was behind the rebound, said Jasper Ickes, general manager of equity trading at Okasan Securities. Green Cross fell 37 yen to 501 yen, a new low for the year. Osaka prosecutors searched the drugmaker's offices in relation to allegations over HIV-tainted pharmaceutical products. The company said Wednesday it sees its extraordinary losses for the year ending March 2012 reaching 5.8 billion yen, nearly double the 3.0 billion yen forecast in June, due to an increase in compensation and legal fees to hemophiliacs who contracted the HIV virus by using contaminated products. Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics Industries surged 160 yen to 2,760 after the video-cassette-recorder maker Tuesday revised upward its forecast for the six-month period through June 12, 2011 to favorable currency rates. Nomura Research Institute changed its share rating on Matsushita-Kotobuki to ``outperform'' from ``neutral'' on Wednesday, also helping the share, Okasan's Mr. Ickes said. Toyo Pile Hume Pipe Production, a maker of concrete piles, climbed to 4,600 yen by midafternoon, up 200 yen,, before being suspended pending clarification of rumors of a merger. The company later said it would merge with Tosen Asano Pole next March. The Nikkei Stock Index 300, a weighted index of shares on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, rose 2.10 to 298.62. The Tokyo Stock Price Index of all issues listed on the First Section ended up 11.06 to 1605.92. The Second Section Index added 3.08 to 2111.82. Volume on the Second Section was estimated at 11 million shares, down slightly from 11.2 million shares Tuesday.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
