Asian Economic News
Japanese Market Trades Firm
10/12/2009 9:59 PM ET
(RTTNews) -
The Japanese stock market opened on a firm note on Tuesday with investors tracking cues from Wall Street and European markets. Higher commodity prices and expectations of strong quarterly results are also contributing to the surge.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which rose to 10,077 in early trades, is currently up 44.6 points, or 0.46%, at 10,061.
Automobile stocks Toyota Motor, Honda Motor, Nissan Motor, Mazda Motor and Hino Motors are trading notably higher.
Among bank stocks, Shizuoka Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizuho Financial and Chiba Bank are trading firm.
Machinery and electric machinery stocks are mostly trading higher. Shares of securities firms and trading houses are also up in positive territory. Food and chemicals stocks are exhibiting a mixed trend, while pharmaceuticals are trading lower.
Shares of Mitsui & Co. are up over 1% on reports of a likely tie up with Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto to explore for bauxite, a raw material of aluminum, in Laos.
Textile stock Onward Holdings is down nearly 3% following an announcement from the company that it will likely book a group net profit of 2 billion yen in the year through February, a decline from the previously estimated 3.6 billion yen profit. The firm's mainstay apparel business is expected to continue suffering due to slow personal spending. Onward Holdings booked a 30.8 billion yen loss for fiscal 2008.
On the economic front, according to data released by Bank of Japan, the benchmark measure of money supply, M2, rose 3% year on year to a daily average of 757.8 trillion yen in September. M3 was up 2.2% in the same period.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 89 yen range early Tuesday in Tokyo. In early trades, the dollar fetched 89.69-89.73 yen against Monday's close of 89.65-89.75 yen in London and Friday's close of 89.28-89.29 yen in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 89.82 to the U.S. dollar. Financial markets in New York and Tokyo were closed Monday for national holidays.
Among other stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region, New Zealand and Singapore are trading flat. Korea and Taiwan are trading notably lower, while the Australian market is trading firm. Markets in the region had ended on a mixed note on Monday. The Japanese market was closed due to a public holiday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed largely on the upside on Monday, as light trading volume amid the Columbus Day holiday contributed to limited movement in the equity markets.
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