Tokyo stocks lower amid tension with China
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-12 13:11

TOKYO - Tokyo stocks fell Tuesday morning amid uncertainty about possible political and economic fallout from anti-Japan protests in China. The dollar was down against the yen and the euro.

The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues lost 43.50 points, or 0.37 percent, to 11,702.14 points in the morning session. The index shed 129.11 points, or 1.09 percent, on Monday.

The dollar was trading at 107.60 yen at 11 a.m. Tuesday, down 0.50 yen from late Monday in Tokyo and below the 107.83 yen it bought in New York later that day.

Stocks fell amid political tension between Japan and China. Anti-Japanese protests in Beijing and Shenzhen over the weekend stirred investor concerns over China-related businesses.

Thousands of Chinese took to the streets on Saturday to protest an approval by Japan's education ministry of a controversial Japanese textbook that critics say whitewashes Japan's wartime atrocities.

Amid a lack of market-boosting news to counter that development, stocks were down across the board.

Automakers Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Co., electronics- and technology-related issues Canon Inc., Sony Corp and Advantest Corp., as well as major banks all ended the morning session lower.

Also dampening market sentiment was Wall Street's losses Monday due to higher oil prices and concerns about the automotive sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 12.78, or 0.12 percent, to 10,448.56, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 7.23, or 0.36 percent, to 1,992.12.

In Tokyo early Tuesday, the broader TOPIX, which includes all issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, dipped 5.74 points, or 0.48 percent, to 1,184.38 points. The TOPIX lost 11.18 points, or 0.93 percent, the day before.

In currency trading, the dollar remained weaker after slipping Monday in New York ahead of this week's release of key U.S. economic reports used to evaluate the country's current account deficit.

The euro rose to $1.2984 from $1.2950 late Monday but fell to 139.71 yen from 139.98 yen.

The yield on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond was unchanged from Monday's close of 1.3600 percent and priced at 99.47 points.

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