Nikkei down 3.1 percent, investors fret over economy
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 3.1 percent on Tuesday as exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) skidded on worries over the health of the global economy and a rise in the yen.
Advantest Corp (6857.T), a maker of semiconductor testing equipment, and other chip-related shares slipped after their U.S. peers declined, and resource-linked shares fell after oil prices slid nearly 4 percent the previous day.
Seven & I Holdings (3382.T) declined after a rebuke from Japan's anti-monopoly watchdog, which said the company's convenience store unit, Seven-Eleven Japan had illegally pressured franchise stores not to cut prices of food items.
Investors and market analysts say the market now lacks incentives for a further rise in share prices beyond an eight-month high above 10,000 marked earlier in June, although they add it is premature to conclude that its upward trend since March has ended.
The World Bank underscored concerns about the economy on Monday, when it said that prospects for the global economy remain "unusually uncertain" and cut 2009 growth forecasts for most economies.
"I do not think there is anyone who is all that confident about an economic recovery," said Hiroaki Osakabe, fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management.
In addition to economic data, a focal point will be what companies have to say about the business outlook when they unveil earnings in July, he said.
The Nikkei stock average .N225 fell 303.26 points to 9,523.01, having dipped below its 25-day moving average, which has provided the Nikkei support over the course of its rally since early March.
The Nikkei fell as low as 9,511.45 at one point, its lowest since early June.
The broader Topix dropped 2.6 percent to 898.11.
Tokyo shares retreated after U.S. stocks suffered their worst one-day loss in two months on Monday in a broad-based sell-off, as investors reconsidered the health of the economy.
Investor caution before the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting that ends on Wednesday, was also a negative factor for the Nikkei, said Yumi Nishimura, deputy general manager for Daiwa Securities SMBC.
"There are events such as the Federal Open Market Committee meeting as well as U.S. Treasuries auctions coming up," she said.
Investors are worried about the risk that U.S. long-term bond yields could head higher and hamper the U.S. economy.
Hideyuki Ishiguro, a supervisor in Okasan Securities' investment strategy department, said the Nikkei's fall of about 6 percent from an eight-month high hit earlier in June, was not sharp enough to be viewed as a reversal of its upward trend.
Ishiguro added, however, that such thinking could change if the Nikkei were to fall below its 200-day moving average, which now lies at roughly around 9,000.
Exporters including carmakers fell after the yen hit a three-week high of 95.12 yen to the dollar on Tuesday, with Toyota Motor falling 2.7 percent to 3,580 yen.
Other declining shares included chip-related stocks such as Advantest Corp, which dropped 4.9 percent to 1,635 yen.
Seven & I Holdings (3382.T) fell 3.2 percent to 2,240 yen .
Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by more than 8 to 1.
Trade was moderate, with 1.2 billion shares changing hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section, roughly in line with last week's morning average.
(Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
