Sharp Corp. (6753) and Panasonic Corp. (6752) led gains among Japanese electronics makers in Tokyo trading as the yen weakened against the euro and dollar, boosting investor optimism that the companies’ projected losses may narrow.
Sharp rose 6.4 percent to 250 yen at the close on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the highest since Aug. 2, and bringing its gain in the past 30 days to 64 percent. Panasonic added 7.9 percent, the most since July 2009, to 481 yen, extending its advance since Nov. 13 to 25 percent.
The yen has fallen 5 percent against the dollar and lost about 8 percent versus the euro in the past month as opposition leader Shinzo Abe called for a doubling of the inflation goal set by the Bank of Japan (8301) to revive economic growth. A weaker yen boosts the value of Japanese electronics makers’ overseas revenue when repatriated.
“The yen’s move is a tailwind for companies including Sharp and Panasonic,” said Mitsuo Shimizu, a Tokyo-based analyst at Iwai Cosmo Holdings Inc. (8707) “Investors focus on large companies when the yen fuels expectations for earnings recovery in the whole market.”
The yen touched 83.67 per dollar, the weakest since March 20, before trading at 83.59 as of 3:43 p.m. in Tokyo. It was at 109.46 per euro, the least since April 4.
Sharp expects a net loss of 450 billion yen in the year ending March 31, while Panasonic projects a loss of 765 billion yen, according to figures released separately by the Osaka-based companies.
Sharp, which said last month that there was doubt about its ability to survive, generated about 23 percent of sales from the Americas and Europe in the year ended March 31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Panasonic got about 22 percent of revenue from these regions, the data showed.
Sony Corp. (6758), Japan’s largest exporter of consumer electronics, gained 6.4 percent to 886 yen, the biggest advance since Feb. 3.
To contact the reporter on this story: Naoko Fujimura in Tokyo at nfujimura@bloomberg.net
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