In Tokyo on Monday, both the Nikkei 225 and the Topix index reached multi-year closing highs. The Topix was at a 15-year closing high as it added 0.1 percent to 1,816.97, while the Nikkei gained 0.2 percent to 18,215.35, its highest close in nearly seven years. The small and mid-cap Mothers market, however, reversed recent gains to end 2.1 percent lower to 1,164.07.
Some export sectors were higher. The automobile manufacturing sector added 0.6 percent as a whole, with Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203; NYSE: TM; LSE: TYT) gaining 0.7 percent to ¥8,290.
The electronics sector was mixed. Sony (TYO: 6758; NYSE: SNE) added 0.6 percent to ¥6,390 on an upgrade from “sell” to “buy” from Merrill Lynch (TYO: 8675; NYSE: MER). The broker cited overseas economic growth and a weaker yen as reasons for its upgrade.
On the other hand, broker downgrades sent Sharp and Pioneer lower. UBS (TYO: 8657; NYSE: UBS; SWX: UBSN) reduced its rating on Sharp (TYO: 6753) from “neutral 2” to “reduce 2” on its belief that profit growth will slow for the consumer electronics maker. Sharp’s shares dropped 1.3 percent to ¥2,290. Pioneer (TYP: 6773) fell 3.3 percent to ¥1,676 after Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) dropped its target share price from ¥1,600 to ¥1,500.
The real estate sector dropped 1 percent as a whole, with Mitsui Fudosan (TYO: 8801; NASDAQ: MDSFF) 1.1 percent lower to ¥3,570.
Banks were lower as well, by 1.2 percent as a sector. Mitsubishi UFJ (TYO: 8360; NYSE: MTU) was down 0.7 percent to ¥1,510,000, while Mizuho Financial (TYO: 8411; NYSE: MFG) dropped 1.7 percent to ¥860,000.