RADIOACTIVE WATER RELEASE HURTS UTILITY, SEAFOOD SHARES IN JAPAN

April 5, 2011    

by Elaine Frei

Japan’s equities markets were once again in focus Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 down 1.06 percent to 9,615.55 in Tokyo, while the Topix index was 1.46 percent lower to 847.16 and the Mothers market dropped 2.76 percent to 437.38 on news related to conditions in the wake of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami that struck the northern part of the Asian nation.

The declines came after Tokyo Electric Power (TYO: 9501) was down 18 percent to a 60-year low after it dumped radioactive seawater back into the Pacific Ocean to make room in its storage facilities at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power facility for water that is even more contaminated after being used to cool nuclear fuel rods, while seafood-related shares declined on fears that the radioactive water could taint fish and harm consumers who eat it.

Carmakers were also lower in Tokyo after Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203) said it might have to temporarily close its factories in the United States due to a shortage of parts from plants that were closed due to earthquake damage, and shares related to chipmakers were lower on a report that chip sales are down globally.

The Sensex was down in India, dropping 0.08 percent to 19,686.8, but the Straits Times Index added 0.2 percent to 3,146.75, Australia’s markets advanced with the S&P/ASX200 up 0.27 percent to 4,900.1 and the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.28 percent to 4,998.6, while Kospi gained 0.69 percent to 2,130.43 in South Korea.

Markets in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were closed in observance of holidays.

Unlike the declines for chipmakers in Japan, technology shares were up in European and US equities markets on mergers and acquisitions news after US-based chipmaker Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) said it will buy National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) for $6.5 billion.

The FTSE 100 was 0.16 percent lower to 6,007.06 in London, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.25 percent to 11,737.7 as chipmaker ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM) gained on the mergers news, while miners and the retail sector were mixed, most in the food and beverages sector were higher, most banks were lower and engineering groups were the biggest decliners on both the 100 and the 250.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.19 percent to 1,143.98, while the Dax and CAC-40 were each nearly even as the Dax was down just 0.02 of a point to 7,175.31 and the CAC-40 was 0.03 percent lower to 4,041.74, and the IBEX dropped 0.72 percent to 10,678.6, with chipmakers the biggest gainers on both the Dax and the CAC-40.

Wall Street was up at nearly 1 p.m. in New York, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.21 percent to 12,426.30, while the S&P 500 was up 0.3 percent to 1,336.83 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.53 percent higher to 2,804.1, with markets helped by the purchase news from Texas Instruments (LSE: TXN).

Crude oil prices were mixed in midday trade, with Brent crude up but West Texas Intermediate crude lower, while metals prices were higher as gold entered record territory as it added $17.80 to $1,450.80 per troy ounce.

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