aquapeel still buying?, page-11

I am a bit lonely on the RJT thread. Curious if anyone has any RJT, maybe they are not dead yet? Though the situation surrounding the RE and insurance is a question mark, but they should be due to sign of on refinancing deals soon and may even begin to trade again?

anyway sentiment is improving for jap reits, see below.


Japanese Stocks Rise on U.S. Earnings; Property Trusts Advance
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By Masaki Kondo

March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks rose, driving the Topix index toward its best week in more than 16 years, as better-than-expected earnings at U.S. companies boosted speculation the global recession is abating.

Canon Inc., the world’s biggest digital-camera maker, gained 5.2 percent after U.S. electronics retailer Best Buy Co. reported earnings that topped analysts’ estimates. Nomura Real Estate Office Fund Inc. advanced 8.3 percent on a newspaper report the government may buy properties from property trusts. Nippon Yusen K.K. led shipping lines lower after reporting an 88 percent tumble in profit.

“Market sentiment has greatly improved,” said Masaru Hamasaki, a senior strategist at Tokyo-based Toyota Asset Management Co., which oversees about $3.3 billion. “Investors will be convinced things are getting better once improvements in the financial sector and corporate earnings become tangible.”

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 83.22, or 1 percent, to 8,719.55 at the 11 a.m. break in Tokyo. The broader Topix index rose 7.67, or 0.9 percent, to 834.48. The Nikkei is set for a 9.7 percent gain this week, while the Topix is poised to add 9.1 percent, the most since August 1992.

In New York, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 2.3 percent, after Best Buy, the largest U.S. electronics retailer, reported fourth-quarter earnings that were 15 percent higher than what analysts had anticipated. ConAgra Foods Inc., the maker of Banquet frozen dinners, also beat analyst estimates as material costs fell.

Overheating?

“U.S. consumer spending appears to be picking up,” Mitsushige Akino, who oversees the equivalent of $615 million at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The market will remain resilient, though technical indicators show it is “overheating,” he said.

The Nikkei is set for a 15 percent advance in March, the steepest monthly leap since January 1994. The gauge’s 14-day relative strength index, a measure of how rapidly shares have risen or fallen, exceeded the 70 threshold yesterday that some traders regard as a sign to sell.

Canon, which gets a third of its sales from the Americas, jumped 5.2 percent to 3,120 yen, while Sony Corp., the world’s second-biggest maker of consumer electronics, added 2.7 percent to 2,275 yen. Sharp Corp., maker of Aquos-brand televisions, climbed 4.7 percent to 877 yen.

DRAM Prices

Elpida Memory Inc., Japan’s top maker of computer-memory chips, leapt 14 percent to 752 yen. NEC Electronics Corp., the No. 3, added 5.8 percent to 696 yen. Prices for the benchmark 1- gigabit memory chip soared 14 percent yesterday, the most since Feb. 2, according to Taipei-based Dramexchange Technology Inc., operator of Asia’s biggest spot market for chips.

Nomura Real Estate Office Fund rose 8.3 percent to 564,000 yen. Orix JREIT Inc. added 13 percent to 433,000 yen, while Orix Corp., the nation’s largest non-bank financial company and the manager of the fund, climbed 4.8 percent to 3,910 yen. Mitsui Fudosan Co., Japan’s No. 1 property developer, advanced 3 percent to 1,223 yen.

Japan’s ruling coalition is studying the creation of a 1 trillion yen ($10.2 billion) fund to buy property from real estate investment trusts, the Nikkei newspaper reported today, without saying where it got the information. The Tokyo Stock Exchange REIT Index, which tracks 40 such funds, has fallen 43 percent in the past year as tighter bank lending contributed to a series of bankruptcies in the real estate sector.

‘Short-Term Lift’

“The government is always coming up with these kinds of policies, which provide some short-term lift to spirits,” said Tomohiro Araki, a Tokyo-based analyst with Nomura Securities Co. “But when the proposals don’t turn into real policy action, the market’s hopes quickly fade.”

Honda Motor Co., which more than halved its full-year profit target in January, added 3.8 percent to 2,465 yen. Smaller rival Mazda Motor Corp. leapt 6 percent to 195 yen.

“Businesses are rapidly responding to tepid demand by cutting production and reducing workforce,” said Toyota Asset’s Hamasaki. “When the global economy starts to normalize in the second half of this year, these companies will benefit from both lower costs and a recovery in demand.”

U.S. President Barack Obama yesterday said he will outline his strategy for the nation’s automobile industry “in the next few days” as cash-strapped General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC are requesting as much as $21.6 billion in government aid.

Nippon Yusen, the nation’s No. 1 shipping line, sank 2.3 percent to 421 yen, leading its peers to the biggest decline among 33 industry groups on the Topix. Net income for the 12 months to March 31 dropped to a 10th of the year-ago level, a preliminary earnings statement from the company showed yesterday. Nikko Citigroup Ltd. recommended selling the stock.

Nikkei futures expiring in June added 0.3 percent to 8,740 in Osaka and gained 0.2 percent to 8,730 in Singapore.

To contact the reporter for this story: Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at [email protected].

Last Updated: March 26, 2009 23:24 EDT