Tokyo stocks rebound on upbeat machinery orders, economic stimulus

 

From the Blackship.com Business › 09 April, 2009 12:14

TOKYO - Tokyo stocks rebounded Thursday morning with investors cheering better-than-expected Japanese machinery orders data and Japan’s plan to have the largest-ever spending in its fiscal 2009 supplementary budget.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average advanced 158.38 points, or 1.84 percent, from Wednesday to 8,753.39. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 12.61 points, or 1.55 percent, to 827.87.
Gainers were led by glass and ceramics, machinery and real estate issues. Major losers included gas and electric, pharmaceutical and warehouse issues.
Tokyo stocks remained strong in the morning as a spate of good news came from the domestic front, starting with government data — released shortly before the market opened — that showed core private-sector machinery orders in Japan rose a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent in February from the previous month to 728.1 billion yen.
”Tokyo shares were boosted by the machinery orders data after the results beat market expectations,” said Hiroichi Nishi, equities chief at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc.
The results compared with the average market forecast of an 8.1 percent drop in a Kyodo News survey.
Predictably, machinery issues came out strong. Among them, leading machine tool manufacturer Mori Seiki rose 54 yen, or nearly 6 percent, to 1,008 yen.
Construction issues like general contractor Obayashi, which gained 2 yen, or around 0.4 percent, to 495 yen, were also firm due to the Japanese government’s economic stimulus plans.
”Investors were hopeful about economic stimulus measures coming out amid media reports that the government is eyeing an extra budget that will involve actual fiscal spending of 15 trillion yen, the largest ever of this kind,” Nishi said.
The extra budget proposal comes as the government and ruling bloc are set Friday to finalize a fresh stimulus package for the coming three years, to be financed partly by the supplementary budget.
Brokers said Thursday’s rise in stocks was also helped by an optimistic market mood owing to the Cabinet Office data released Wednesday showing that business confidence among workers with jobs sensitive to economic trends in Japan improved for the third straight month in March.
Turning to overseas factors, which usually sway the Tokyo market, Nishi said investors were heartened by a rebound in U.S. stocks Wednesday partly in response to a Wall Street Journal report saying Washington will use public money to bail out struggling life insurers.
On the First Section, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones 1,247 to 328, with 119 others ending the morning unchanged.
Morning value leader Toyota Motor advanced 70 yen, or nearly 2 percent, to 3,820 yen. Investors were encouraged by the automaker’s launch of its new Prius gasoline-electric hybrid car in May as the world’s most fuel-efficient gasoline-using car at a time the government plans to offer subsidies for purchases of hybrid and other energy-saving cars.
Banking shares were mixed, but volume leader Mizuho Financial Group edged up 1 yen, or 0.5 percent, to 200 yen, as pessimism about the global financial sector eased.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 1 yen, or 0.2 percent, to 487 yen, after its key brokerage arm, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co., said Wednesday an employee sold the personal data of more than 49,000 customers to three dealers of personal data lists.
Trading volume on the main section came to 951.13 million shares, down from Wednesday morning’s 1,164.28 million.
The TSE’s Second Section index was up 6.77 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,857.51 on a volume of 19.77 million shares. On the Osaka Securities Exchange, the near-term June Nikkei 225 index futures contract was up 190 points to 8,770.
© 2009 Kyodo World News Service

Tokyo stocks rebound on upbeat machinery orders, economic stimulus – The Black Ship: Japan News and Forum