Nikkei Hits 5-Week Low in Morning

Tokyo, Aug. 12 (Jiji Press)--Stocks slumped on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange Thursday morning, hurt by the yen's rise and overnight falls in
U.S. and European shares, with the key Nikkei average hitting a five-week
low.
At the morning close, the 225-issue Nikkei average stood down
187.65 points, or 2.02 pct, at 9,105.20, after falling as low as 9,096.19,
the lowest level since July 6 on an intraday basis. On Wednesday, the key
market gauge dived 258.20 points, down for four market days in a row.
The TOPIX index of all first-section issues was down 15.88 points,
or 1.90 pct, at 818.57. The index lost 20.23 points the previous day,
extending its losing streak to the third day.
Tokyo stocks, like U.S. shares on Wednesday, lost ground as
investors became risk-averse due to worries about a possible slowdown of the
global economy, following dismal economic reports in the United States and
China, brokers said.
In addition, investor sentiment was dampened by the yen's continued
strength, which heightened concern that Japanese corporate earnings may be
eroded, brokers said. The dollar hit a 15-year low of 84.72 yen in London
trading Wednesday.

"Investors' main concern has been the U.S. economy. But worries
about possible slowing of the Chinese economy are becoming stronger as
well," Nagayuki Yamagishi, investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan
Stanley Securities Co., said.
Such murky prospects for the major economies will have worldwide
impacts, he added.
Worries about the global economy were fueled by the U.S. Federal
Reserve's statement released after its policy meeting this week, which
projected a slower-than-expected recovery of the U.S. economy, Yamagishi
said.
"The course of Tokyo stocks will depend on the yen's foreign
exchange rates," Masatoshi Sato, senior strategist at Mizuho Investors
Securities Co., said.
The Nikkei could fall below the 9,000 mark if the yen rises further
and the Bank of Japan takes no measures to cope with the currency's
strength, he added.
Losers trounced winners 1,441 to 132 on the TSE's first section in
the morning, while 85 issues were unchanged.
Half-day volume came to 772 million shares.

Brokerage house Nomura shed 3.94 pct while rival Daiwa slid 3.01
pct. Megabanks Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui also posted hefty
losses.
High-tech companies were battered by the yen's strength, with NEC,
Pioneer and Sony losing 3.95 pct, 3.53 pct and 3.03 pct, respectively.
Bookoff, operator of a secondhand book store chain, plunged 10.71
pct and renewed its year-to-date low after announcing Wednesday it incurred
a group net loss in April-June, against a year-before profit, according to a
market source.
By contrast, utilities Tokyo Electric, Chubu Electric and Osaka Gas
were upbeat.
Meiji Holdings rose 2.56 pct after the food company said Wednesday
its group operating profit in April-June jumped some 70 pct from a year
earlier.