Tokyo markets mixed

Despite trade volumes that were at their highest in two months, the Tokyo equities markets were mixed on Thursday, with the Nikkei 225 dropping 0.3 percent to 16,419.42 even as the Topix index added 0.1 percent to close at 1,631.46. Export-focused stocks were helped by falling oil prices, but oil stocks were down on the drop in oil prices and shares in domestic companies were mixed.

Automobile manufacturers were up, with Toyota 0.6 percent higher to ¥6,460 and Nissan up 2.4 percent to ¥1,299. Electronics companies were also higher on the day, even though Sony saw losses through the morning half of the session. Still affected by the Dell recall of laptops that use Sony-manufactured batteries, the consumer electronics giant recovered enough late in the day to add 0.4 percent by the close, to ¥5,170. Toshiba gained 2.5 percent to ¥786.

Among domestic stocks, banks were up, but real estate declined. The world’s biggest bank when assessed by assets held, Mitsubishi UFJ, was 0.6 percent higher to ¥1,640,000. On the other hand, the largest property company in Japan, Mitsui Fudosan, was 1.7 percent lower to ¥2,570.

Oil prices that continued to drop left upstream oil company Inpex down by 0.9 percent to ¥1,050,000.

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