By Yoshiaki Nohara and Satoshi Kawano - Aug 24, 2011 1:20 PM GMT+0700
Japanese stocks fell as weaker-than- estimated U.S. economic data eroded investor confidence ahead of a meeting this week where Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may signal new stimulus.
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), the world’s biggest carmaker, dropped 1.6 percent. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (8306) fell after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Japan’s biggest banks. Gamemaker Nintendo Co. dropped after yesterday gaining the most in a week.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 1.1 percent to 8,639.61 at the 3 p.m. close of trading in Tokyo, extending earlier declines after measures announced by Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda to protect Japanese exporters failed to weaken the yen. The Topix index dropped 1.1 percent to 742.24.
“Stocks have risen on expectations of Fed action, but it’s not as though there’s been an improvement in the fundamentals,” said Toshiaki Iwasaki, an analyst at Mito Securities Co. “People are covering shorts but beyond that there’s not much buying because there’s so much uncertainty about the global economic outlook.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at ynohara1@bloomberg.net; Satoshi Kawano in Tokyo at skawano1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net.
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