Japan stocks plunge as yen surges; Sony down 4.1%
Dramatic moves on the forex market sent Japanese stocks barreling lower out of the Friday open, with the Nikkei Stock AverageNIK, -1.43% down 2.1% (erasing the previous day’s 1.9% rally) and the broader Topix weaker by 1.8% in the early minutes.
Switzerland threw the currency markets into chaos by unexpectedly scrapping its franc’s peg to the euro, resulting in investors piling into the yen and unwiding yen-based carry trades. Thursday saw the euro EURYEN plunge 2.4% against the yen to ¥135.14, according to Factset, while the dollar USDJPY, +0.36% was down 1.2% for the day to ¥116.11 after trading around ¥117.77 at the previous Tokyo stock close.
The most obvious casualties among Japan’s equities were the blue-chip exporters, including Sony Corp.6758, -4.64% SNE, +1.11% (down 4.1%), Nikon Corp. 7731, -2.34% NINOF, -3.85%(down 2.9%), Kyocera Corp. 6971, -3.12% KYOCF, -3.09% (down 3.4%), Nissan Motor Co. 7201, -0.49% NSANY, +0.00% (down 2.5%) and Subaru maker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. 7270, -1.67% FUJHF, +0.34% (down 2.9%). Even many of the names which would benefit from a stronger yen saw little in the way of gains, with Nissin Foods Holdings Co. 2897, +0.49% down 0.2%, McDonald’s Holdings Co. Japan2702, -0.24% down 0.8%, and Tokyo Electric Power Co. 9501, -1.67% TKECF, +0.00%down 1%.
Among the few advancers, Skymark Airlines Inc. 9204, -1.38% added 0.8%, helped by a fresh plunge in oil prices and a rebound from its losses Thursday on a report that a planned tie-up with larger rival ANA Holdings Inc. 9202, -1.39%ALNPF, +1.36% had been called off. (Shares of ANA fell 2.1%.) Also, shares of Amada Co. 6113, +1.67% rallied 2.2% after the machine-tool company posted an almost tripling of its nine-month operating profit.
Source: MarketWatch – Japan stocks plunge as yen surges; Sony down 4.1%
