Tokyo Electron rebounds 5.2% as the Nikkei 225 slips

Tokyo Electron shares rose 5.16% on Monday, Nov 2. They closed at ¥10,005 on the Prime section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, its top market tier. The previous close, on Friday, Oct 30, was ¥9,514. No session fell between the two closes.

Tokyo Electron is one of Japan’s largest makers of chipmaking equipment. It supplies the machines that memory makers such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix use in their plants. Bloomberg listed the company among the day’s stock movers. The cause of the rise has not been made public. The company has issued no new statement tied to Monday’s trading.

⤢

A gain against a weaker Nikkei 225

The Nikkei 225, Tokyo’s main share index, fell 0.33% over the same session. Tokyo Electron moved the other way, and by a wide margin. A gain of more than 5% in one session is a large move for a stock of this size. It stands out more on a day when the wider Tokyo market edged lower.

That gap matters for readers who compare the stock with the index. Over this session, Tokyo Electron’s move had little in common with the broader market. Whatever lifted the shares, it was not a general rally in Tokyo.

Friday’s drop almost fully recovered

The rise came one session after a sharp fall. On Oct 30 the stock lost 5.19%, sliding from ¥10,035 on Oct 29 to ¥9,514. That decline followed the company’s decision to raise its dividend, the cash it pays shareholders, and to set a share repurchase, in which a company purchases its own stock from the market. Pacific Tape covered that move on the day.

Monday’s gain took back nearly all of that loss. At ¥10,005, the shares closed just below the Oct 29 close of ¥10,035. That was the last close before the dividend and repurchase news. In two sessions, the stock went down by about 5% and came back by about 5%. It ended almost where it started.

The two moves came close together, but no link between them has been reported. Neither Bloomberg nor the company has tied Monday’s rise to the dividend increase or the repurchase.

Still well below mid-October

The rebound does not change the larger picture for the month. From Oct 13 to Nov 2, Tokyo Electron fell 13.41% in yen. Even after Monday’s gain, the stock is far below its mid-October level. The two recent sessions only cover a small part of that slide.

For investors who track the shares in US dollars, the decline over the same stretch was 12.9%. That is a little smaller than the drop in yen. Measured in dollars, the stock closed on Nov 2 at US$63.46. That was up 5.22% from the Oct 30 close. The exchange rate on Nov 2 was 157.65 yen per dollar. Readers outside Japan can find the ways to hold the shares, from Tokyo-listed stock to over-the-counter receipts, in our guide to owning Japanese chip stocks.

A firmer session in Seoul

Korean shares also had a strong day. Seoul Economic Daily reported that purchases by pension funds and SK hynix’s share repurchase lifted the KOSPI, Seoul’s main index. Those reports concerned the Korean market. They give no reason for Tokyo Electron’s rise, and nothing ties the two moves together.

Still, both markets showed strength in chip-related names on the same day. For readers who follow Samsung Electronics and SK hynix alongside their Japanese suppliers, the two markets ended the session on firmer footing for chip stocks. Tokyo Electron’s own gain stood apart from its home index, which ended lower.

---

Information only, not investment advice.