Tokyo stocks edge down

Japan's Nikkei stock average slipped 0.1 percent on Tuesday as the market edged down in sympathy with other Asian markets, with trading houses such as Mitsubishi Corp battered by lower oil and metals prices. Consumer credit firm Credit Saison surged more than 11 percent after financial sources said the consumer credit company was in merger talk with Orix Corp while high-tech firms rebounding from recent selling also helped limit losses.
Fast Retailing tumbled 7.8 percent, its biggest one-day percentage loss since January 12, 2007, when it plunged 13.6 percent, as ongoing worries about the longer-term economy both overseas and at home kept investors reluctant to buy. "Nobody really wants to buy ahead of various upcoming economic events and with Japanese first-quarter earnings so generally disappointing," said Noritsugu Hirakawa, strategist at Okasan Securities.
Other market players said slides in Asian shares were dragging on the Nikkei as well. The MSCI index of Asian stocks outside Japan was down 1.8 percent at 0605 GMT. The benchmark Nikkei spent much of the day in positive territory, edging downwards only at the eleventh hour as pessimism over the overall economic situation prevailed.
"If you look at Japanese shares overall, it looks somewhat better off than other markets, especially for financials, which weren't hit as hard by the credit crunch as in other markets," said Soichiro Monji, chief strategist at the equity management department of Daiwa SB Investments.
"But Japan of course can't remain strong on its own, and investors are closely watching what happens after the forecasts for many companies haven't been as good as expected," he said. The Nikkei shed 18.52 points to 12,914.66, its third negative day in a row. The broader Topix was nearly flat at 1,247.71. The US Federal Reserve meets later on Tuesday and is expected to leave interest rates unchanged, partly due to easing energy prices.
Resource-linked shares were hit hard as oil slid to a three-month low as concerns over tight supplies eased amid evidence of rising Opec output and declining US demand in the face of a weak economic outlook. Mitsubishi Corp, Japan's largest trading house, slid 1.7 percent to 2,920 yen, while fellow trader Mitsui & Co fell 2.7 percent to 1,903 yen. Itochu Corp shed 3.3 percent to 934 yen.
Mitsui & Co had dived 8.6 percent on Monday in reaction to a 43.6 percent drop in first-quarter net profit. Oil and gas field explorer Inpex Holdings Inc slid 3.9 percent to 985,000 yen. But the biggest drag on the Nikkei 225 by index weight was Fast Retailing, which plunged 7.8 percent to 11,780 yen.
Investors locked in profits after it said same-store sales at its Uniqlo casual clothing chain in Japan marked the largest monthly rise in nearly two years in July. One bright spot was Credit Saison, which surged 11.2 percent to 2,330 yen, becoming the biggest contributor to the Nikkei by volume weight.
High-tech firms such as Kyocera Corp also gained, rebounding after recent selling. Kyocera rose 2.3 percent to 9,290 yen while Tokyo Electron Inc rose 3.4 percent to 6,100 yen. Industrial robot maker Fanuc Ltd climbed 1.3 percent to 8,400 yen. Trade picked up, with 2.17 billion shares changing hands, compared with last week's daily average of 1.84 billion. Declining shares beat advancing ones by 913 to 704.