Yahoo Finance Tokyo stocks down 2.73% by break
Tokyo stocks fell 2.73 percent Friday morning, dragged by sharp falls on Wall Street and a rise in the yen as investors fret about the Ukraine crisis and China's economy.
The Nikkei-225 index slipped 404.12 points to 14,411.86 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was down 2.54 percent, or 30.52 points, to 1,172.94.
Traders were following a global sell-off on Thursday as weak Chinese economic data and rising tensions in Ukraine offset solid US retail sales and labour-market data.
"Japan stocks take the first hit on bad Asian news, then when the US markets fall late, they react to that as well, resulting in a 'double whammy' effect," a Tokyo-based hedge fund manager told Dow Jones Newswires.
"Japan shares are cheap, but it's not about valuations; it's about risk, and investors are now firmly back in 'risk-off' mode now," said SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi.
China on Thursday released another set of poor indicators, just days after announcing a surprise trade deficit and slump in exports that have fuelled fears of a slowdown in the economic powerhouse and key driver of global growth.
The top diplomats of the US and Russia are due to meet in London to try to defuse the crisis over Ukraine with Moscow warned of a serious backlash over a referendum in Crimea on becoming part of Russia, a vote the West has called illegal.
Yoshihiro Okumura, general manager at Chibagin Asset Management, said "the emotional reaction to the Ukrainian crisis is a short-term risk, while the China economic slowdown is a longer-term proposition."
"To a degree, both have been factored into prices, but the cumulative effect is worse when considering the yen's rise."
The dollar was at 101.81 yen in midday trade Friday, well below 102.73 yen in Tokyo on Thursday before the stock market closed.
Toshiba tumbled 3.28 percent to 441 yen after news that the firm sued South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, claiming it had stolen trade secrets through a Japanese engineer.
Sony dived 3.09 percent to 1,782 yen and Honda was off 2.36 percent at 3,633 yen.
IHI dived 5.08 percent to 448 yen and Mitsubishi Heavy fell 2.59 percent to 601 yen despite a report in the Yomiuri newspaper that the two firms plan a tie-up on aircraft engine business.
