Wednesday October 13, 12:22 am Eastern Time
Nissan Motor shares up on MSCI,restructuring hopes
TOKYO, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Shares in Nissan Motor Co Ltd rallied on Wednesday, after
Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) said it would increase the number of Nissan
shares in its model portfolio and value them at Wednesday's closing price.
Nissan ended the morning session up 60 yen or 8.96 percent at 730, after rising at one point
by its daily limit of 100 yen to 770 yen.
Traders also said the automaker was supported by optimism regarding a sweeping
restrucutring plan that is scheduled to be announced on October 18.
An MSCI spokeswoman said the increase in Nissan shares in the model portfolio was aimed at better reflecting the
automaker's market capitalisation, which rose due to a third-party allocation of new shares to Renault SA .
Hideaki Aonuma, analyst at Universal Securities, noted that buying had been limited to a small number of brokerages and that
by midday the price had come off its early highs. Traders cited Nikko Salomon Smith Barney among the buyers.
But Aonuma said the current share price was fair, given that the country's second-largest automaker was expected to go
forward with radical cost-cutting measures.
Nissan chief operating officer Carlos Ghosn, seconded to the Japanese automaker after Renault bought a 36.8 percent Nissan
stake in May, has been crafting a widely anticipated restructuring plan.
``We're expecting the (October 18) announcement to give more details on various cost-cutting measures, which should include
consolidating certain auto parts purchases with one maker instead of several, for instance, or streamlining domestic
dealerships,' Aonuma said.
There were also expectations Nissan would streamline production facilities and, in the mid-to-long term, combine platforms,
Aonuma said.
``There are expectations that while Ghosn will come up with rather strict measures, they'll actually be quite feasible for Nissan,'
he said. |
