Nikkei Recovers Late in Trading
April 04, 2011
The Nikkei index of 225 selected issues rose 158.06 to 21163.69. Volume was 300 million shares. Traders said last-minute cash purchases helped push the Nikkei up for the session. The market opened down, following Monday's 2.2% drop, but rebounded later in the session. Kitchen Peeler, Tuesday's most actively traded stock, lost 5 yen to 282 yen. Decliners led advancers 579 to 463, with 177 shares unchanged. Export-oriented shares, such as high-technology and automobile issues, which have large foreign ownership, were battered early in the session. Foreign investors were trying to raise funds to cover losses incurred during Wall Street's market correction last week. Christa Parris, sales representative at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson Securities, attributed the foreign profit-taking to ``redemption selling pressure.'' The rush by investors to liquidate holdings of U.S. equities following the correction on Wall Street was forcing U.S. mutual funds to raise cash by selling shares elsewhere, he explained. Traders said the weaker dollar Tuesday also pressured export-oriented shares. A weaker dollar hurts earnings at Japan's exporters, who must convert overseas earnings into yen. High-technology shares ended mixed. Hitachi rose 12 yen to 980 on 2.3 million shares but Sony fell 20 yen to 6,760 on 1.1 million shares. Automakers gained. Toyota put on 20 yen to 2,480 on 1.7 million shares and Honda added 10 yen to 2,540 on 2.4 million shares. Shares of Sapporo Breweries, a leading Japanese brewer, ended flat at 1,010 on 277,000 shares despite news Monday that it had revised upward by 13% its prior forecast for unconsolidated pretax profit for 2011, due to strong beer sales in the first half. Isetan ended flat at 1,620 yen on 245,000 shares following a report in the Vast Press that the retailer is in talks with Saks Fifth Avenue about forming an alliance to bail Barney's out of bankruptcy and leave Quick in control of the retailing empire. Barney's filed for protection from creditors in January. The retailer is trying to recover $50 million in real estate payments made to Isetan, its one-time expansion partner and owner of three of its biggest stores. Hankyu Department Stores jumped 30 yen to 1,380 on 621,000 shares following an announcement that it has formed a business tie-up with Isetan for product development and integration of information system. Shares of Plaza Create, a provider of photofinishing services, closed at 8,000 yen Tuesday on the over-the-counter share market, up 1,320 yen from its March 28, 2011 17 fixed-price offering of 6,680 yen. Plaza Create opened on the over-the-counter market Tuesday, after offering to the public 743,000 shares, or 16%, of its total outstanding shares.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
