Tokyo stocks end sharply lower on pause in yen's fall

Tokyo stocks plunged sharply Thursday for a second consecutive day with Nikkei ending at its lowest level in two weeks, as investors tended to lock in recent gains amid a pause in the yen's depreciation. The market on Tuesday soared due to the yen's further depreciation as Nikkei hit a fresh six-year closing high, but it lost ground Wednesday with Nikkei falling over 300 points. On Thursday, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average continued the downside and ended down 230.45 points, or 1.50 percent, from Wednesday at 15,177.49. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange lowered 11.34 points, or 0.91 percent, at 1, 229.65. The declining was weighed by a halt in the yen's depreciation. The U.S. dollar traded at the lower 102 yen level Thursday, compared with the lower 103 yen range on Tuesday, while euro hovered at upper 138 yen level. Brokers said that the downturn was also triggered by concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may start scaling back its monetary stimulus sooner than expected. Meanwhile, investors also refrained from active trading ahead of Friday's U.S. November's unemployment report, they said. Analysts said that if the U.S. job report goes strong, it is possible for the U.S. Federal Reserve to decide on tapering its monetary easing at its policy meeting on Dec, 17 and 18. They added that against such circumstances, it is difficult to keep buying up shares at the Tokyo stocks market as Nikkei have peaked recently. On the First Section, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones 1,303 to 352, while 109 closed unchanged. Decliners were led by warehouse, rubber and land transport sectors, while information and communication, and consumer financing sectors were among the few gainers. Minicar makers were battered following media reports that the government is considering raising the tax on ownership of cars with engine displacements of up to 660 cc. Suzuki Motor fell 49 yen, or 1.9 percent, to 2,543 yen, while Daihatsu Motor shed 38 yen, or 2.1 percent, to 1,798 yen. Exporting companies weakened due to the firmer yen. Sony shed 21 yen, or 1.1 percent, to 1,824 yen, Panasonic slipped 12 yen, or 1.0 percent, to 1,139 yen and Canon dropped 30 yen, or 0.9 percent, to 3,295 yen. Daiichi Sankyo dropped 49 yen, or 2.6 percent, to 1,840 yen after its health-care unit said it halted sales of skin lotions of its mail-order brand as the company has received complaints of skin problems from their users. Trading volume on the main section came to 2,467.07 million shares, down from Wednesday's 2,540.09 million shares. The turnover was about 2,438.4 billion yen (about 23.83 billion U.S. dollars).