Monday, August 1, 2005

Tokyo equities return to earlier high

by Brian Turner

In Tokyo on Monday, equities markets reached their highest closing levels in four and a half months. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.4 percent to 11,946.92, while the Topix index was up 0.55 percent to 1,211.61.

The gains came primarily on positive economic data and more better-than-predicted quarterly profits reports. Several reports were released on Friday and again on Monday showing Japan’s economy on the upswing.

Friday saw the release of good news on employment and industrial output, while on Monday figures were published that show both wages and the number of permanent jobs up in June.

The retail sector as a whole was up by 0.8 percent, echoed by a gain of 0.8 percent by supermarket chain Ito-Yokado, to ¥3,770.

The telecommunications sector also did well, with Japan’s largest mobile phone operator, NTT DoCoMo, showing a rise of 4.6 percent to ¥182,000 on a report that quarterly profits had risen even though revenues had fallen, with the credit going to cost-cutting measures.

Another mobile phone operator, KDDI, was also up, by 6.3 percent to ¥576,000. Merrill Lynch upgraded KDDI to “buy”.

Not all stocks were up, however. Seasoning maker Ajinomoto was down 4.95 percent to ¥1,133 on a quarterly report that showed a 73 percent drop in group net profit at least partly due to higher prices for raw materials.

 

 

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