(Adds stocks and comments)
By Taiga Uranaka
TOKYO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks fell on Tuesday with
Olympus Corp <7733.T> heading for its biggest one-day loss in six
years on a weak outlook, helping sour market sentiment.
Yahoo Japan Corp <4689.T> jumped for a second day following
Microsoft Corp's <MSFT.O> $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo Inc
<YHOO.O>.
Market participants said the fall was mostly a reaction to
the previous day's gains and to losses on Wall Street, pointing
to a lack of factors to power a sustained rise.
"There is strong downward momentum in the market. It will
take a huge amount of energy to reverse that," said Hiroshi
Arano, an adviser at Mizuho Asset Management.
"The market is likely to hover around the bottom for the next
few months unless some totally unexpected news comes, something
that shows foreign investors that it's too early to write off
Japanese companies," he said.
The benchmark Nikkei average <> ended the morning
session down 1.2 percent at 13,688.01. The broader TOPIX index
<> lost 1.1 percent to 1,349.63.
Amid mounting concerns over the economic outlook, companies
with poor results or forecasts were roundly punished by
investors.
Olympus fell 13.9 percent to 3,100 yen, the biggest
individual drag on the Nikkei average, after the digital camera
maker said on Monday it had revised down its profit outlook for
the year by 4 percent on a strong yen and falling camera prices.
Alpine Electronics Inc <6816.T> fell 18.6 percent to 1,310
yen after the maker of car stereos and navigation systems cut its
outlook for the year to March, citing an expected slowdown in the
U.S. car market and a stronger yen.
Mitsubishi Rayon Co Ltd <3404.T> slid 17.6 percent to 351 yen
after the chemical firm cut its outlook for the full year to
March 31 on a steep rise in raw materials costs and slowing
demand for its products.
YAHOO! JAPAN
Yahoo Japan rose 5.3 percent to 48,450 yen. The shares were
untraded on Monday due to a glut of buy orders and were bid up
9.5 percent, or the stock's daily limit of 4,000 yen.
In contrast, Softbank Corp <9984.T> fell 4.1 percent to 2,115
yen after jumping 15.8 percent in the previous session.
Yahoo Japan is owned 41 percent by Softbank and 33 percent by
Yahoo Inc, while Softbank holds a 3.9 percent stake in Yahoo Inc.
For Microsoft's bid for Yahoo Inc, the search giant Google
Inc <GOOG.O> has emerged as a potential Yahoo partner against
the operating software titan.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T> and other Japanese
bank shares declined after brokerages downgraded U.S. banks and
credit card companies, fuelling recession fears.
Top bank Mitsubishi UFJ shed 2.5 percent to 1,008 yen and
No.2 Mizuho Financial Group <8411.T> fell 2.6 percent to 482,000
yen.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group <8316.T>, the third-biggest
bank, lost 1.4 percent to 829,000 yen.
Trade was moderate on the Tokyo exchange's first section,
with 950.3 million shares changing hands, compared with last
week's morning average of 976.2 million.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones by a ratio of
more than two to one.
(Editing by Michael Watson)
