Thursday, March 30, 2006

Nikkei finds 5-year peak

by Brian Turner

In Tokyo on Thursday, the Nikkei closed above the 17,000 level for the first time in over five years, ending the session up 0.6 percent to 17,045.34. The Topix index was up as well, by 0.9 percent to 1,726.68. Banking and export companies accounted for most of the upward movement.

Real estate saw gains on the day, with the sector as a whole adding 1.8 percent. Mitsui Fudosan and Mitsubishi Estate each were up by 1.5 percent, to ¥2,675 and ¥2,755 respectively. Tokyu Land gained 2.3 percent to ¥1,046.

Banks were up 3 percent as a sector on higher profits estimates for the 2005-2006 and the 2006-2007 fiscal years for eight large banks by Goldman Sachs. Mitsubishi UFJ, the world’s largest bank when ranked by assets, added 4.1 percent to ¥1,780,000. Mizuho, meanwhile, gained 2.4 percent to ¥955,000.

Among export-dependent sectors, transport equipment was up 1.1 percent. Toyota advanced by 1.3 percent to ¥6,470 and Nissan was up 0.7 percent to ¥1,401.

Electrical machinery also gained on the day. Sony added 1.5 percent to ¥5,450, while Hitachi gained 1.4 percent to ¥822.

 

 

 

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