Japan Stocks Rise on Profit Reports; Property Developers Fall

By Masaki Kondo

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks rose after NGK Insulators Ltd. and Foster Electric Co. said their first-half profits probably exceeded forecasts. Property developers fell after ratings cuts by UBS AG.

NGK, a maker of electronic components, surged 8.8 percent, and Foster, which makes headphones and speakers, climbed 15 percent. Mitsui Fudosan Co., Japan’s largest real-estate company, lost 2.2 percent, and smaller rival Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. slid 2.6 percent.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.3 percent to close at 10,133.23 in Tokyo. The broader Topix index gained 0.7 percent to 909.84, with seven stocks rising for every four that declined. For September, the Nikkei 225 dropped 3.4 percent and the Topix lost 5.8 percent, their first decreases since February and the steepest declines among 88 benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg.

“Technologies will make a marked difference in competitiveness among companies in the same sector,” said Hisakazu Amano, who helps oversee the equivalent of $19 billion at T&D Asset Management Co. “It’s almost impossible to come up with a reason to think Japanese equities will fare well relative to their overseas counterparts in the coming months.”

The number of shares traded in Tokyo was the lowest since Sept. 15.

The Topix and the Nikkei 225 declined this month after the Liberal Democratic Party was defeated in national elections on Aug. 30, ending its half century of almost unbroken rule. Shares of consumer lenders and banks have been dragged down by comments by newly installed Financial Services Minister Shizuka Kamei that he favored a plan that would let businesses and individuals suspend payments on loans for about three years.

Japan’s factory output increased 1.8 percent in August from the preceding month, slower than a 2.1 percent gain in July, the Trade Ministry said before markets opened. That matched the median of economists’ estimates surveyed by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter for this story: Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net.