Tyremakers Lead Rising TSE

Sumitomo, Yokohama, Toyo and Bridgestone have excelled on the Tokyo Stock Exchange today, leading general gains in other sectors. The results are based on the decreasing price of oil, down 24 per cent from its record 147.27 US dollars a barrel on July 11. Also contributing to the gains was an analyst report from Nikko Citigroup upgrading Sumitomo to “buy” and Bridgestone to “neutral” from “sell”.

Sumitomo – Japan’s third-largest manufacturer of tyres – had a particularly good day, rising by the widest margin in three weeks to 927 yen (5.9 per cent, 52 yen). Analysts are predicting further gains for the Kobe firm, as it looks to boost earnings with increased sales in Russia. Toyo rose 2.6 per cent to 277 yen, Bridgestone 1.7 per cent to 1,848 yen and Yokohama 0.4 per cent to 563 yen.