Yahoo Finance Tokyo stocks fall 1.99% by break
Japanese stocks declined 1.99 percent Wednesday morning on worries over China's economy and following a negative lead on Wall Street.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange tumbled 363.24 points to 17,871.50 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares fell 2.30 percent, or 34.61 points, to 1,468.52.
Investors stayed cautious after data on Tuesday showed a slump in Chinese imports, reigniting worries about the pace of growth in Asia's largest economy, and a lack of domestic indicators, analysts said.
Chinese imports slumped by nearly 18 percent year-on-year in September, Customs said. Exports also slipped 1.1 percent, underlining a falling demand in some key markets for the country's manufactured goods.
Chris Green of First NZ Capital told Bloomberg News that China's slowdown probably forms the largest risk for the global economy:
"The cautionary element in the market is likely to continue," he said.
"In terms of global growth, the risk is skewed towards the downside. A softer read on the Chinese inflation data reinforces the backdrop of deflationary pressures and softer growth profile globally."
Investors edged toward postponing shares buying amid a lack of clear trading cues such as economic indicators and domestic earnings, according to analysts.
"With a lack of domestic earnings and economic indicators, investors don't have enough reasons to buy stocks today," Chihiro Ohta, general manager of investment information at SMBC Nikko Securities.
"With less buying, the market will be pushed lower by small lots of asset liquidation."
US stocks finished lower Tuesday, putting a hold on a two-week-long rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.29 percent while the broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.68 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index finished down 0.87 percent.
In Japanese shares trading, energy explorer Inpex dipped 4.76 percent to 1,169.5 yen, while China-linked firms suffered with automaker Nissan falling 2.95 percent to 1,181 yen and industrial robot maker Fanuc down 4.08 percent to 19,275 yen.
Nikon shed 5.51 percent to 1,491 yen after a report in the Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei said the company will undershoot its operating profit for the first half of 2015 on weak US digital camera sales.
Nikon is not expected to release its data until first week of November but the Nikkei often reports earnings early.
The dollar fell to 119.71 yen from 119.72 yen Tuesday in New York, after dipping in the 119.60 range during early exchanges.
The euro traded higher at $1.1389 and 136.33 yen compared with $1.1381 and 136.26 yen in US trade.
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