Japanese stocks fall on overseas losses

Japanese shares declined for a second straight day Friday with export-oriented issues down after overnight losses on Wall Street and European stock markets. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 27.02 points, or 0.28%, to end at 9,561.36 while the broader Topix index was down 2.19 points, or 0.27 %, at 811.94. For the week, the Nikkei fell 0.8 per cent and the Topix was down 0.43%. Shares in Toyota Motor Corp dropped 1.93 per cent, Honda Motor Co slid 1.04 %, Sony Corp lost 0.94% and Canon Inc was down 0.53 %. Olympus Corp surged 6.37 % after the company's new board members were elected at a shareholders' meeting, months after the company admitted a 1.7-billion-dollar cover-up of investment losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday declined 0.53% on disappointing economic data that saw more workers filing for unemployment last week and fewer previously owned homes being sold in March. On currency markets at 3 pm (0600 GMT) in Tokyo, the dollar traded at 81.53-54 yen, up from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 81.46-47 yen. The euro was quoted at 107.27-31 yen, up from 107.05-09 yen late Thursday, and at 1.3157-3160 dollars, up from 1.3141-3142 dollars.