Japan: Best and Worst Performing ADRs Last Week and YTD

Most Japanese ADRs trading on the NYSE/NASDAQ posted weekly gains for a second consecutive week. There will likely be more upside Monday as the Nikkei climbed to a new multi-year high.

In Monday trading, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.7% to 18,262 (18,282 intra-day high), its highest close in more than seven years. Its intra-day high of 18,300 was established on Feb. 26 of this year.

Volume has been light in recent trading and is expected to remain so throughout the week until the Bank of Japan's two-day policy meeting ends Thursday. Adding to potential late-week volatility is options [SQ] expiry on Friday.

Investors are anxious to see what firms raise guidance ahead of earnings reporting season, based at least partially on the weak yen.

On average, the 27 Japanese ADRs gained a combined 0.6% last week and are now up 0.8% for the year.

Average weekly Japanese ADR returns over the past two months:

06/22 - 06/29: +0.6%
06/15 - 06/22: -2.2%
06/08 - 06/15: +0.3%
06/01 - 06/08: -0.5%
05/25 - 06/01: +2.6%
05/18 - 05/25: +1.1%
05/11 - 05/18: -2.6%
05/04 - 05/11: +0.4%

The five best performing ADRs last week:

1. Mitsui & Co. (MITSY) 3.7%
2. Sony (SNE) 3.4%
3. Nidec (NJ) 2.4%
4. Kubota (KUB) 2.0%
5. NIS Grp. (NIS) 1.9%

The five worst performing ADRs:

1. TDK (TDK) -2.4%
2. Matsushita (MC) -2.2%
3. NTT DoCoMo (DCM) -1.8%
4. NEC (NIPNY) -0.8%
5. Millea Hldgs (MLEA) -0.7%

See the chart below for weekly and year-to-date returns.

Click to enlarge chart

In Monday trading in Tokyo, among stocks with ADRs, Millea Holdings (MLEA) paced advancers, +2.20% to ¥5,120, followed by Mizuho FG (MFG) +1.52% to ¥870,000 and Mitsubishi UFJ (MTU) +1.47% to ¥1.38m. Among the biggest decliners were: NIS Group (NIS) -3.85% to ¥50, Nidec (NJ) -1.21% to ¥7,320 and NTT (NTT) -1.09% to ¥544,000.

Disclosure: The author owns shares of NIS Group and IIJ and also owns IIJ call options.