Honda Motor Company and Nissan led gains on the Tokyo stock exchange after U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed a $700 billion plan to buy mortgage securities in a bailout of the financial system.
It was Nissan that climbed the highest after the announcement, but Honda wasn’t far behind with some significant gains of its own. Honda added 5.1% to its 3,500 yen. In fact, all of Japan’s auto-related companies were the biggest contributors to a 1.7% gain in the Topix index of all shares on the exchange’s first section.
Toyota, Honda, and Nissan are Japan’s biggest automakers, so gains in their sector certainly represent good news for all of Japan’s industry. The news of the U.S. buyout impacted their markets because of the potential for rise in consumer confidence and in easing the facility to lend by the banks. With more cash flow, the hopeful result is one of more customers and more business for Honda, Toyota, and Nissan.
According to Bloomberg, Toyota, the country’s biggest automaker, rose 3.2% to reach 4,870 yen. Mazda Motor Corp., owned in part by Ford Motor Co., added 2.6% to reach 475 yen.
While the long-term impact of the bailouts remains to be seen, speculation runs rampant on both sides of the political spectrum in the United States. For the time being, however, it seems that at least some international markets are experiencing some interesting growth. For more information on how this can impact car purchasing in the United States, drop by your local Honda dealer today.