(Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co. shares slid, heading for a two-day drop of 13%, as investors took profit on the Japanese automaker after it rallied on news of a deal with stronger peer Honda Motor Co.
The stock fell as much as 6.7% on Monday in Tokyo. The carmaker’s shares soared more than 60% since Dec. 17, a day before news of the deal broke, before tumbling on Dec. 27 as investor focus turned to the starting ratio for a Honda-Nissan tie-up.
The ailing Japanese automaker aims to establish and list a joint holding company with Honda by August 2026, according to a Dec. 23 announcement. The exact terms of the arrangement are yet to be decided, but the share transfer ratio will take into account the carmakers’ stock prices, according to the companies.
Irrespective of the short-term boost the Honda deal news may have given to Nissan’s share price, global fund positioning in the carmaker remains low, said Steven Holden, founder of Copley Fund Research.
“Sentiment is very bad,” said Holden. “There’s very little positive activity around Nissan, in terms of funds opening and closing positions.” Holden sees Nissan as one of the big losers in a global trend away from automakers and toward big tech among global funds heading into 2025.
The broader Japanese stock market was also in profit-taking mode Monday, after five consecutive days of gains last week. The benchmark Topix index slid as much as 0.8% in the last trading session of the year, dragged by electronics and automakers. Nissan was the worst performer on the blue-chip Nikkei 225 as of 1:24 p.m. in Tokyo.
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