Japan Stocks Down Due To Uncertainty Economic Uncertainty

Japan Stocks decreased over 2 percent Monday because of uncertainty of the Japan and U.S. economy and selloff of Asian markets.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average slipped 294.93 points, or 2.30 percent from last week to 12,525.54. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was decreased 30.85 points, or 2.48 percent, to 1,212.96, reaching its lowest level since March 19.

Among All the TSE first section issues, 1,309 decreased and 305 increased. Trading volume of the TSE first section reached 1,839.36 million shares or 2,137.1 billion yen. The Japanese currency is being traded in the level of 99 yen per a U.S. dollar. The TSE's Second Section index lost 11.90 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,741.84 on a volume of 30.32 million shares.

For fiscal 2007, the Nikkei sharply declined almost 28 percent affected by the U.S. financial turmoil. Especially, materials producing companies like Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Materials and export-oriented companies like Toyota and Honda declined Monday.

Traders said investors are waiting for key economic figures in both Japan and the United States. Concerns of U.S. economy is also increasing because S&P downgraded FGIC Corp. 6 notches to BB, according to Kabushiki Shimbun.