The One Nikkei Stock to Survive the Rout Makes Frozen Nuggets

(Bloomberg) -- Amid the market chaos in Tokyo on Monday, there was just one Nikkei 225 stock that eked out a gain: maker of frozen chicken nuggets and fried rice Nichirei Corp.

Nichirei rose as much as 3.5%, the only stock in the Nikkei 225 that was in positive territory as of 10:18 a.m. local time, with the broader index plunging 4.5%. Frozen foods are one of the few sectors in Japan to benefit from the coronavirus outbreak, as parents struggle to keep children fed with schools across the country ordered shut in an attempt to prevent the spread of the outbreak.

Japan Hunkers Down to Avoid the Virus, Boosting ‘Shut-In’ Stocks

Parents commonly depend on school lunches, known as kyushoku, to keep elementary and junior high children fed, leaving them shorthanded following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s shock decision on Feb. 27 to call on schools to close. “The market has gradually gained impetus since early February,” Nobuyoshi Miura, an analyst at Citigroup Global Markets Japan, wrote in a research note, noting some supermarket freezers had been emptied as customers stocked up following Abe’s call.

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