Japan Stocks Fall on Higher Oil Costs; Yokohama Rubber Slumps

By Masaki Kondo

Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Japan stocks fell for a fourth day after oil jumped the most in more than two months, boosting concern higher fuel costs will erode company earnings.

Yokohama Rubber Co., the nation's second-largest tiremaker, lost 1.5 percent, leading a decline by makers of rubber products, while oil explorer Inpex Holdings Inc. jumped 2.5 percent. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., Japan's third-biggest publicly traded bank, fell 2.1 percent after Citigroup Inc. said U.S. financial companies will report more writedowns.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 103.84, or 0.8 percent, to 12,648.37 as of 9:09 a.m. in Tokyo, set for the biggest weekly drop since June 27. The broader Topix index fell 6.24, or 0.5 percent, to 1,218.29. Twenty-seven of 33 industry groups on the Topix slumped.

Crude oil for October delivery surged 4.9 percent yesterday, the most since June 6, as the depreciation of the dollar raised the appeal of commodities as an inflation hedge.

Nikkei futures expiring in September retreated 0.7 percent to 12,660 in Osaka and slumped 0.8 percent to 12,650 in Singapore.

To contact the reporter for this story: Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net.