2015-07-31 13:23:16
Japanese stocks rose, with the Topix index set to cap a monthly increase, as investors watched company results on the busiest day in the earnings season. Finance companies and shippers gained, while commodity industries fell.
Lender Orix Corp. was the biggest boost to the Topix index, soaring 10 percent, after quarterly results beat estimates. Fujifilm Holdings Corp. jumped 7.6 percent after announcing a plan to repurchase as much as 100 billion yen ($806 million) of its shares. Nihon Inter Electronics Corp. surged 14 percent after Kyocera Corp. launched a tender offer for the maker of semiconductor devices. Sony Corp. dropped 1.8 percent despite tripling its quarterly profit.
The Topix climbed 0.5 percent to 1,656.04 as of 12:43 p.m. in Tokyo, headed for a gain of 1.6 percent in July. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.1 to 20,549.26, on course for a 1.6 percent monthly increase. More than 300 companies in the Topix report quarterly results Friday, including the nation’s three largest banks and Honda Motor Co.
“We’re able to confirm the quality of the earnings so far, which have come in roughly within the expected range,” said Mitsuo Shimizu, deputy general manager at Japan Asia Securities Group Ltd in Tokyo. “However, today is the peak of the earnings season, and investors may want to scrutinize results further.”
Inflation, Employment
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. report after the close of markets. Analysts expect all three to post gains in fee income and overseas lending.
Of the 598 firms that have reported this season, 59 percent exceeded profit expectations, an improvement from the 48 percent that beat forecasts in the previous quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales were also stronger, with 60 percent coming in above estimates, up from 55 percent last quarter.
Consumer price gains in Japan remained little more than zero in June, challenging the central bank’s effort to spur inflation. Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 0.1 percent from a year earlier, fractionally better than economists estimated. The same measure for Tokyo fell 0.1 percent.
Separate data showed that household spending dropped 2 percent in June, missing estimates for a 1.9 percent gain. The jobless rate ticked up to 3.4 percent, while economists estimated the rate would remain at 3.3 percent.