Japanese stocks retreated in Trading Platforms

Japanese stocks retreated in Trading Platforms from the biggest gains in a month yesterday after the yen rose to a 15-year high, damping exporters’ earnings outlook.

Banks dropped after a report they will sell shareholdings.
Canon Inc., the world’s No. 1 camera maker, slid 1.4 percent. Panasonic Corp., the world’s biggest maker of plasma televisions, slipped 2.2 percent. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, declined 1.1 percent. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank by market value, declined 2.3 percent, while Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the third-biggest, sank 4.1 percent.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.7 percent to 9,514.71 at the 11 a.m. break in Tokyo. The broader Topix index lost 1 percent to 828.64, with about four stocks falling for each one that advanced. Yesterday, the Nikkei climbed 1.9 percent, the most since Sept. 15, and the Topix gained the most since Sept. 6.

Canon slid 1.4 percent to 3,855 yen. Panasonic declined 2.2 percent to 1,182 yen, while Sony Corp., an electronics maker that earns more than 70 percent of sales outside of Japan, retreated 1.4 percent to 2,604 yen. Toyota declined 1.1 percent to 2,897 yen, while Honda Motor Co., Japan’s second-largest carmaker, slid 0.9 percent to 2,977 yen.

The yen appreciated to as much as 80.89 against the dollar yesterday evening in Tokyo, from 81.23 at the close of stock trading. It was the highest level since April 1995. A stronger yen cuts the value of overseas income at Japanese companies when converted into their home currency.
The Topix has tumbled 17 percent from its high this year on April 15 as Europe’s debt crisis, China’s steps to curb property prices and concern about U.S. economic growth damped confidence in a global recovery.

Stocks in the index trade at 14.8 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 14 times for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 12.2 times for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.