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Japan's Nikkei falls for 8th day as investors brace for weak 'tankan' survey

AP - Tuesday, July 1

TOKYO - Japanese stocks stretched their losing streak to eight straight sessions Monday as a falling dollar hurt exporters and amid dire projections for a closely-watched business sentiment survey to be released Tuesday.

Reversing early gains, the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average closed down 62.98 points, or 0.46 percent, at 13,481.38. The index has shed more than 900 points, or about 6 percent, this month.

Analysts predict that Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" survey will reflect growing corporate concerns about business conditions.

"High energy prices and increased uncertainty over the U.S. economy provide the major background to the weakness in sentiment," said UBS economist Akira Maekawa in a preview report.

A falling dollar added to the concerns, hurting exporters including automakers and electronics manufacturers.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., maker of Subaru-brand cars, slid 4.6 percent to 520 yen. Toyota Motor Corp. Japan's largest automaker Toyota Motor Corp. retreated 1.2 percent to 5,010 yen, and Nissan Motor Co. ended down 1.5 percent at 877 yen.

Sony Corp. plunged 4.1 percent to 4,640 yen _ its lowest level in almost two months.

Among gainers, issues in the oil and coal products sector strengthened after crude futures spiked to a record $142.99 a barrel in New York Friday.

Nippon Oil Corp. soared 7.4 percent to 713 yen, and Nippon Mining Holdings, Inc. jumped 3.6 percent to 665 yen.

Power companies also gained, with both The Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. and The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. both adding about 3.8 percent.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock exchange fell 0.04 percent to 1,320.10.

In currency trading, the dollar fell to 105.28 yen by late afternoon, down from 106.14 Friday. The euro gained slightly against greenback to US$1.5797 compared with US$1.5794.

The dollar was mixed against other major Asian currencies. It fell to 1.3605 Singapore dollars and 30.3540 Taiwan dollars, while gaining to 44.7850 Philippine pesos.

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