Toyota plans to build R">
Nov-05-2009UPDATE 2-Toyota seen forecasting smaller FY loss on cost cuts
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CONTENTS:SOURCESFIND OUT MORE ON THIS SUBJECTTOKYO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average lost 0.5 percent on Thursday with Canon Inc ( 7751.T ) and other exporters slipping as investors took profits, though gains in banking shares helped keep the market supported. Nissan Motor Co ( 7201.T ) rose after Japan's third-biggest automaker revised its annual outlook to a profit from a loss on Wednesday as soaring sales in China helped drive quarterly earnings beyond market expectations. As expected, the Federal Reserve reiterated its intent to keep interest rates low on Wednesday. Though Wall Street rallied in response it soon lost steam, with investors turning their eyes to jobs data due out on Friday. "A lot of investors are likely to be stay on the sidelines ahead of the jobs data, given that the September figures were worse than expected, and this is likely to keep stocks weak until then," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
[1] TOKYO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average is set to gain ground on Thursday following an advance on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve reiterated its intent to keep interest rates low, but rises will be limited before U.S. jobs data on Friday. Auto shares are likely to draw attention after Nissan Motor Co (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research ), Japan's third-biggest automaker, revised its annual outlook to a profit from a loss on Wednesday as soaring sales in China helped drive quarterly earnings beyond market expectations.
[2] TOKYO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average slipped 0.6 percent on Thursday, with exporters such as Canon Inc ( 7751.T ) losing ground after the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep rates low helped the yen advance against the dollar. Nissan Motor Co ( 7201.T ) shares were untraded and awash with buy orders after Japan's third-biggest automaker revised its annual outlook to a profit from a loss on Wednesday as soaring sales in China helped drive quarterly earnings beyond market expectations.
[3] 
Analysts polled by Reuters expect Friday's employment report to show that U.S. payrolls shrank by 175,000 and the unemployment rate hit a new 26-year-high of 9.9 percent in October. Market players said investors were also likely to be less active as they waited for earnings of companies such as Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ), which will announce its results after the market closes on Thursday. "The yen has gained slightly on the dollar, and this has prompted profit-taking among short-term investors, especially among shares that have already announced results," said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management. The dollar lost 0.2 percent to 90.46 yen JPY=, pressured by the Federal Reserve reiterating its commitment on low rates.
[4] The benchmark Nikkei.N225 lost 45.65 points to 9,798.66, while the broader Topix shed 0.2 percent to 879.59. Market players said investors were also likely to be less active as they waited for earnings of big name companies such as Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ), which will announce its results after the market closes on Thursday. The Fed's closely watched policy statement was somewhat more upbeat than its statement in September but it was also more explicit about why it expects to keep rates low, citing "low rates of resource utilisation, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations".
[1] Tokyo - Profit taking dragged down Japanese stocks in early Thursday trading, as investors awaited quarterly results from carmaker Toyota Motor Corp and the latest U.S. employment data.
[5] The industry has gotten a sales boost from government-backed incentives and drastic cost reductions to weather the worst economic crisis in generations. Toyota rattled the motor sports world by saying it has quit Formula One racing to put its annual budget of around $300 million to better use. Toyota, until two years ago the world's most profitable automaker, is likely to be the only top Japanese carmaker to post a loss in the July-September quarter when it announces its results after the market closes on Thursday. Even struggling U.S. rival Ford Motor Co ( F.N ) reported a quarterly profit this week, defying Wall Street estimates as it seized market share from rivals General Motors Co and Chrysler.
[6] In a sign that stocks are likely to head upwards, Nikkei futures traded in Chicago 2NKc1 closed at 9,875, up 0.6 percent from the Osaka close JNIc1. Toyota also said on Wednesday it was pulling out of Formula One racing. -- Panasonic Corp (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research ), Sanyo Electric Co (6764.T: Quote, Profile, Research ) Panasonic said it would launch a tender offer for shares in Sanyo on Thursday, moving closer to becoming a powerhouse in hybrid car batteries and other green-energy businesses through the bid worth at least 402.3 billion yen ($). -- ABC Mart (2670.T: Quote, Profile, Research ) The shoe retailer said its October same-store sales fell 2 percent from a year earlier, but it saw a sales recovery in the latter half of the month thanks to aggressive advertising. -- Bals Corp (2738.T: Quote, Profile, Research ) The operator of Francfranc household goods stores said October same-store sales fell 12.7 percent from a year earlier, as customers defected to cheaper rivals. -- Matsumotokiyoshi Holdings (3088.T: Quote, Profile, Research ) The drug store chain said it is likely to report first-half operating profit 9.9 percent higher than its own previous estimate, helped by cost-cutting efforts and a reduction in markdowns.
[2] TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp plans to spend 30-40 billion yen ($330-440 million) to build a research and development center in China as early as next year to better cater to local demand, the Nikkei business daily reported on Thursday.
[7] The robust sales in October boosted the Japanese automaker's overall sales in China during the January-October period to 551,769 vehicles, up 16% from the same period a year ago, the Toyota spokesman said. Toyota's China sales are recovering from the first half, when they shrank after the company's failure to anticipate demand for smaller cars, but its sales growth in the Chinese market still lags behind that of General Motors, which may sell more than 1.6 million vehicles in China this year, up 47% from last year. Toyota Motor in September said that it would increase the proportion of its smaller cars in the Chinese market for sales growth.
[8] China sales of all Nissan vehicles hit 541,428 units in the first nine months, up 35.2%. China's auto sector will continue booming even after government stimulus measures expire by the end of this year, Nissan Motor CEO Carlos Ghosn told reporters last week, adding that his company will struggle to meet demand. "The potential of the Chinese market is huge," he said. Nissan plans to boost the output of its factory in southern Guangdong province by 250,000 units to 600,000 by 2011, taking its total production capacity in China to 700,000 units.
[9] Shanghai, November 4 (Gasgoo.com) Nissan Motor has increased sales projections in China as government subsidies boosted vehicle demand, Bloomberg reported today. The Japanese carmaker expects to sell 712,000 vehicles in China this fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, up from an earlier forecast of 570,000.
[9] TOKYO — Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. climbed into the black last quarter and forecast a smaller yearly loss as surging sales in China helped offset sluggish demand in the West.
[10] TOKYO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ) is expected to reduce its annual loss forecast on Thursday as sales and cost-cutting exceed its plans, putting it on track to follow Japanese rivals into the black next year.
[6] Tokyo - The world's biggest carmaker Toyota Motor Corp plans to build a research and development centre in China, the Japanese business daily Nikkei reported Thursday. The new facility will be established on the outskirts of Shanghai as early as next year, the Nikkei said, but did not give a source for its report.
[11] The new facility would employ several hundreds of people, including local engineers, to enable the company to pick up on local trends, it said. Toyota has dropped its business strategy of selling the same models worldwide, deciding instead to customise its vehicle offerings to the characteristics of each region, it noted. China is expected to overtake the United States this year as the world's biggest automobile market but Toyota's share in new car sales there is only six percent, it said.
[12] "Government stimulus programs have also worked better than Nissan expected." China's vehicle sales may rise 28% to 12 million this year, making the country surpass the U.S. as the world's largest auto market. From January to September, Nissan sold a record 400,632 passenger cars in China, up 47.2% and exceeding the total sales of 2008, with Sept. sales up 63.8% to 75,209, helped by its Teana and Sylphy sedans.
[9] Revenues were pegged at 7 trillion yen. The company also raised its global sales forecast to 3.3 million vehicles from 3.08 million. In the U.S., Nissan expected to sell 765,000 vehicles as opposed to its previous prediction of 750,000. Rivals Honda Motor Co., Suzuki Motor Corp. and Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. have also upgraded their outlooks in recent days.
[10] "Our outlook will remain cautious until we see evidence that economic recovery can be sustained in world markets." With its results better than originally expected, Nissan became the latest Japanese car company to boost its outlook for the year as automakers benefit from robust Chinese demand, aggressive cost cutting, and cash-for-clunkers programs around the world. Nissan now expects a narrower net loss of 40 billion yen for the fiscal year through March 2010 compared with its previous estimate of a 170 billion yen loss.
[10] For the year to March, 22 analysts expect a loss of 293 billion yen, far better than Toyota's current forecast of 750 billion yen. The second-quarter earnings would mark a huge improvement from the previous quarter's 194.9 billion yen loss, as Toyota gradually ramped up production in Japan, where demand for its Prius and other hybrid cars has shot up thanks to generous tax incentives. With the outlook for global demand uncertain next year as government stimulus measures run out, Toyota is aiming to boost manufacturing efficiencies to be able to break even using just 70 percent of its parent-only output capacity.
[6] Nissan gained 2.4 percent to 678 yen after the company, owned 44 percent by Renault SA ( RENA.PA ), said it now expects an operating profit of 120 billion yen ($1.3 billion) in the year to March, instead of the 100 billion yen loss it had forecast previously.
[1] For the April-September half, Nissan booked net profit of 9 billion yen and revenue of 3.38 trillion yen. It sold 1.69 million vehicles during the six-month period, down 10.5 percent from the previous year.
[10] The result was 65 percent lower compared with last year but far better than Nissan's 16.5 billion yen loss in the April-June quarter.
[10] Toyota is expected to post an operating loss of 63 billion yen ($695 million) for the July-September quarter, according to the average forecast of five analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
[6] The country's No. 3 car company posted net income of 25.5 billion yen ($270 million) in the July-September period after three straight quarters in the red.
[10] The world's largest automaker will build a new centre with a full-scale test course near Shanghai, the Nikkei business daily said, adding construction was likely to begin as early as next year. Total investment would reach 30-40 billion yen (330-440 million dollars), it said without naming its sources.
[12] The new facility, to be built on the outskirts of Shanghai, is part of the automaker's efforts to expand its business in China, which is set to top the United States as the world's biggest auto market, the Nikkei said. Toyota has only about six percent market share in the China, even after vehicles produced at its joint ventures with Chinese firms are included, the paper said.
[7] Shanghai, November 4 (Gasgoo.com) Toyota Motor's sales in China last month increased 42% from a year earlier to 65,500 vehicles, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing a company spokesman.
[8] BEIJING Toyota Motor Corp.' s sales in China last month increased 42% from a year earlier to 65,500 vehicles, a spokesman said.
[13] TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp. will spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a research centre in China to develop vehicles for the fast growing market there, a newspaper said Thursday.
[12] Toyota is suffering from severe overcapacity after years of building new factories to meet demand before the financial crisis hit. The stronger yen, which eats into profits made abroad, has dealt a double-blow because Toyota exports more than half of its vehicles built in Japan.
[6] Earnings remained a focus for investors, with raised forecasts helping to boost shares. Sumitomo Heavy Industries ( 6302.T ) rose 4.6 percent to 434 yen after it raised its full-year operating profit forecast by a third, helped by a smaller-than-expected rise in steel costs and an easing of product price falls.
[1] Toyota, the world's biggest automaker by sales, will wrap up an earnings season dominated by rosier projections from Japanese automakers despite the damaging rise in the yen.
[6] Toyota, whose product line-up focused on larger cars, reported flat China sales in the first half of the year. In addition to putting more of its small cars to the China market, Toyota will also increase its Chinese dealerships to around 590 by the end of this year from about 500 in August.
[8] No immediate comment on the report was available from Toyota. The Japanese company, which was due to announce its interim financial results later Thursday, fell into the red for the first time in the year to March 2009 and has forecast another loss this year.
[12] The key Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 113.63 points, or 1.15 per cent, to 9,760.68, wile the broader-based Topix index was down 6.49 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 874.78. Toyota, the world's largest carmaker, is expected to report further losses when it releases its quarterly results later on Thursday.
[5] "The Fed results were basically as expected, but with jobs data coming up, U.S. shares were vulnerable to profit-taking," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at the equity division of Nikko Cordial Securities. "The Nikkei is now low enough that it's appealing to buyers, so there's no fear that it will fall much, but energy is dropping along with volume."
[1] Separately, a report on private sector employment showed that the pace of job losses continued to decrease in October, while non-farm private employment fell by 203,000, higher than a loss of 198,000 jobs that economists had expected. The Fed left its target rate unchanged in a range from zero to a quarter percent and reiterated its assessment that "exceptionally" low rates will continue for an "extended period."
[14] Analysts polled by Reuters expect Friday's employment report to show that U.S. payrolls shrank by 175,000 and the unemployment rate hit a new 26-year-high of 9.9 percent in October.
[1] Nissan's sales in China surged 48 percent to 396,826 units in the six months through September compared to the year-ago period, whereas the company suffered declines in Japan, the U.S. and Europe.
[10] Total U.S. sales of cars and light trucks rose 12 percent from a dismal September 2009, though were little changed compared to a year ago, according to Autodata Corp.
[10] Currently, Asian stocks are trading mostly lower as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the release of key data on U.S. jobs. [14] SOURCES1.
Nikkei edges down as exporters weigh, Nissan up | Markets | Markets News | Reuters2.
Nikkei set to gain ground but upside seen capped | Markets | Asia | Reuters3.
Nikkei edges down as exporters lose ground | Markets | Markets News | Reuters4.
Nikkei slips as exporters sold, eyes on jobs data | Stocks | Reuters5.
Tokyo stocks lose ground on earnings reports, profit takings :6.
UPDATE 2-Toyota seen forecasting smaller FY loss on cost cuts | Reuters7.
Toyota plans R&D centre in China: report | Special Coverage | Reuters8.
Toyota China Oct sales up 42% to 65,500 vehicles - China automotive news9.
Nissan Motor increases China sales projections - China automotive news10.
The Associated Press: Nissan returns to quarterly profit on China sales11.
Toyota to establish research centre in China, report says :12.
AFP: Toyota to build big research China centre: report13.
Toyota's China Sales Rise - WSJ.com14.
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