Nikkei 225 Futures Climb on Speculation Fed to Lower Rates
Nikkei 225 Futures Climb on Speculation Fed to Lower Rates
By Patrick Rial
Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) — Japan;s Nikkei 225 Stock Average
futures climbed on speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve will
lower interest rates by a half point this week, to prop up the
world;s biggest economy and Japan;s largest export market.
Mizuho Financial Group Inc.;s U.S.-traded receipts surged 4
percent from the closing share price in Tokyo yesterday. Those
of Mitsubishi Corp. climbed after prices for commodities
including gold and nickel advanced. Nippon Electric Glass Co.
may rise today after boosting its profit forecast.
“There really isn;t a reason to be as pessimistic as the
recent mood in the market has suggested,;; Terunobu Kinoshita,
who helps manage $785 million at Fund Creation Co. in Tokyo,
said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “That being
said, we can expect volatile swings to continue.;;
U.S. stocks rallied yesterday with the Standard %26amp; Poor;s
500 Index jumping 1.8 percent.
Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures expiring in December last
traded in Chicago at 13,500, up from the close of 13,050 in
Osaka, Japan, and 13,035 in Singapore yesterday. The Bank of New
York Japan ADR Index, which tracks the region;s American
depositary receipts, added 0.4 percent.
Stocks may also rise after reports showed Japan;s
unemployment and consumer spending data were better than
forecast.
Mizuho is Japan;s third-largest lender by market value.
Receipts of Mitsubishi Corp., which generates more than half of
its profit from commodities dealing, surged 3.4 percent. Those
of Sharp Corp., Japan;s largest maker of liquid-crystal display
televisions, jumped 3.8 percent.
Fed Funds Futures
Traders see an 86 percent chance the Fed will cut its
benchmark lending rate to 3 percent from 3.5 percent on Jan. 30,
according to Fed funds futures. That;s up from 70 percent on Jan.
25. Lower interest rates may help pull the U.S. economy out of a
possible recession sparked by the deteriorating housing market.
Prices for gold, platinum and coal rallied to records
yesterday. A measure of six metals traded on the London Metal
Exchange, including copper and zinc, added 0.4 percent.
Nippon Electric Glass, the world;s No. 3 supplier of glass
for LCD televisions, may advance after boosting its net income
forecast for the year ending March 31 by 16 percent yesterday.
Fanuc Ltd., the world;s largest maker of industrial robots,
may gain after saying third-quarter profit jumped 23 percent.
“Our impression of results is slightly positive,;;
Teruhiko Nishimura, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group in Tokyo,
wrote in a note to clients. “We forecast the factory automation
and robot segments will generate strong auto industry-related
sales.;;
Japan;s unemployment rate held steady at 3.8 percent in
December, the government said 30 minutes before the start of
trading. Household spending jumped 2.2 percent from the previous
year. Economists had forecast the jobless rate to rise and
spending to slip in December.
To contact the reporter for this story:
Patrick Rial in Tokyo at
