Japanese Shares Fluctuate as Shippers Drop, Nisshin Steel Gains
March 09, 2010, 11:07 PM ESTBy Masaki Kondo and Satoshi Kawano
March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese shares fluctuated as shipping lines fell after commodity-transport fees slipped. Casio Computer Co. gained after a newspaper reported it will swing to profit.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Japan’s No. 3 shipping line, lost 2.3 percent. Softbank Corp., a mobile-phone carrier, fell 1.4 percent after a central bank report stoked concern deflation will hurt company earnings. Casio, the world’s biggest maker of calculators, climbed 3.7 percent. Nisshin Steel Co. surged 5.8 percent ahead of its inclusion in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average.
The Nikkei 225 was little changed at 10,563.20 as of 12:43 p.m. in Tokyo. The broader Topix index lost 0.1 percent to 923.11, with about as many shares falling as gaining. Settlement prices for Nikkei 225 futures and options expiring in March will be calculated on March 12.
“Investors are weighing where the market will head after the settlement this week and are waiting for a stronger catalyst to buy or sell,” said Yoshihiro Ito, a senior strategist at Tokyo-based Okasan Asset Management Co., which oversees about $8.3 billion.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Nikkei 225’s lowest close since October 1982. The measure has since risen 50 percent as governments globally bolstered their economies through increased spending. The range between today’s high and low of the gauge is 41 points, 70 percent less than the 12-month average.
‘Few Clues’
The yen traded at 90.00 per dollar today. Canon Inc. bases its 2010 forecast on the assumption the yen will average 90 this year. Sony Corp. expects the yen to trade at 90 in the quarter to March 31. A stronger yen reduces the value of overseas sales at Japanese companies when converted into their local currency.
“The current exchange rate is in line with companies’ projections, leaving few clues how fast earnings will improve,” said Okasan’s Ito.
Kawasaki Kisen, Japan’s No. 3 shipping line, dropped 2.3 percent to 347 yen, and market leader Nippon Yusen K.K. slid 0.9 percent to 342 yen. The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, lost 1.5 percent yesterday, its first drop in nine days.
Softbank, Japan’s No. 3 mobile-phone carrier that exempts newly subscribed student customers from monthly base fees for three years, dropped 1.4 percent to 2,247 yen. Bigger rival KDDI Corp. declined 1.4 percent to 471,000 yen. Telecommunications companies as a group were the biggest drag on the Topix.
Japan’s producer prices, the costs companies pay for energy and unfinished goods, dropped 1.5 percent in February, the 14th month of declines, the Bank of Japan said today.
Nintendo Gains
“The economy’s recovery only started last year and it will take time for the improvement to spread” and increase companies’ pricing power, Azusa Kato, an economist at BNP Paribas SA in Tokyo, said before the report.
Casio jumped 3.7 percent to 723 yen, extending its gains to a fourth day. The company may post 20 billion yen ($222 million) in operating profit next fiscal year, compared with a loss in the 12 months to March, the Nikkei reported, citing President Kazuo Kashio.
Nisshin Steel jumped 5.8 percent to 184 yen, en route for the highest close since Sept. 10. The stock will be added to the Nikkei 225 on March 29, Nikkei Inc. said yesterday.
Nintendo Co., the world’s biggest maker of handheld game players, rose 1.5 percent to 27,450 yen in Osaka trading and was the second-biggest positive contributor to the Topix. The company’s dividend yield stands at 3.8 percent based on the payouts in the past 12 months.
“Overseas investors are buying internationally competitive companies, such as Nintendo,” said Masahiko Sato, an equity- market analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc. “As the end of this fiscal year is drawing near, Nintendo’s relatively high dividend yield stands out among high-tech companies.”
--With assistance from Mayumi Otsuma, Aki Ito and Satoshi Kawano in Tokyo. Editors: Sam Waite, Nicolas Johnson.
To contact the reporter for this story: Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net; Satoshi Kawano in Tokyo skawano1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nicolas Johnson at nicojohnson@bloomberg.net.
