Stocks in industries affected by Japan’s worst earthquake on record climbed today amid signs the country is making progress bringing the crisis at a stricken nuclear plant under control. Japan’s markets were closed for a public holiday today.
Extract Resources Ltd. (EXT), an Australia-listed company developing a uranium project in Namibia, surged 14 percent. German-traded shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co., owner of the stricken Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, climbed 3 percent in Frankfurt. China Green Holdings Ltd., an agricultural-products supplier that gets about 19 percent of its sales from Japan, rose 4.1 percent in Hong Kong after some food was found to have elevated radiation levels. Ta Ann Holdings Bhd. (TAH), a Malaysian timber company, increased 4.7 percent on expectation demand from Japan will increase as the nation rebuilds.
“There probably won’t be any panic selling in Japan’s market this week like we saw last week, as the worst-case- scenario has been avoided in the ongoing nuclear crisis,” said Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities Co. in Tokyo. “Investors will continue to monitor the situation closely as their worries still persist. The market may see some support, but it probably won’t surge either, with the Nikkei 225 (NKY) hovering around 8,400 to 9,400.”
Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures expiring in June jumped 2.9 percent to 9,440 in Singapore this afternoon and the yen weakened against the dollar after Tokyo Electric said it connected a power cable to the No. 3 and 4 reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant.
Asia Ex-Japan Shares
The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index rose 1.5 percent to 459.31 today as of 6:23 p.m. in Hong Kong. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average tumbled 10 percent to 9,206.75 last week following the March 11 quake and tsunami on concern the worst nuclear accident in 25 years would worsen. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 4.4 percent during the same period.
Extract Resources surged 14 percent to A$8.01 and Energy Resources of Australia Ltd., a uranium miner, closed 1.5 percent higher at A$8.12. Certificates of Areva SA (CEI), the world’s largest maker of nuclear reactors, added 3.4 percent in Paris.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. climbed 3 percent in Frankfurt, trading at the equivalent of 1,208 yen at 11:08 a.m. local time. That’s 27 percent higher than the closing price on Friday in Tokyo. Toyota Motor Corp. shares rose 4 percent in Frankfurt, trading at the equivalent 3,450 yen, 6.5 percent higher than on March 18 in Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he can see “light at the end of the tunnel” as workers at the troubled Fukushima nuclear plant reconnected power to two of the failed reactors.
Contaminated Milk
Kan said progress was being made in restoring power to reactors No. 1 and No. 2, while Tokyo Electric said it had connected No. 3 and No 4. Minutes later, state broadcaster NHK said engineers were evacuated as gray smoke was seen billowing from reactor 3. Water temperatures in ponds containing spent nuclear fuel had retreated below boiling point, the government said March 20.
Higher-than-normal levels of radiation were found in milk in four different locations in Fukushima prefecture and in spinach in neighboring Ibaraki prefecture, Yukio Edano, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, said at a news briefing in Tokyo yesterday. Japan’s government will decide today whether to limit the sale of produce from the region.
“Until the Fukushima nuclear situation settles down, we will probably see speculative moves in food and uranium-related shares,” Okasan’s Ito said.
China Green Holdings gained 4.1 percent to HK$5.36 in Hong Kong. Ta Ann increased 4.7 percent to 6 ringgit in Kuala Lumpur, while Jaya Tiasa Holdings Bhd., a seller of plywood, climbed 1.1 percent to 5.5 ringgit on expectation demand from Japan will increase as the nation rebuilds.
Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea’s largest carrier, jumped 4.5 percent to 60,400 won in Seoul. Mapletree Logistics Trust, which received 19 percent of revenue from Japan, climbed 3 percent in Singapore.
الرئيسية 
موضوع: Nuclear Stocks, Nikkei Futures Advance as Progress Made on Reactor Crisis 
الإثنين مارس 21, 2011 7:17 am
