Japan Stocks Dip Down, With Sony, Most Financials Lower

Japanese stocks simmered in mild losses early Tuesday, with traders reportedly growing cautious ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve statement and a Bank of Japan policy decision, both due later this week. The Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.2% minutes into trade, with the Topix weaker by 0.3%, and the U.S. dollar buying �123.46, not far from its �123.31 level 24 hours earlier. Many of the blue chips took losses after a down day on Wall Street, with Nikon Corp. down 1.4%, Fanuc Corp. down 1.2%, and Mazda Motor Corp. down 1%. Sony Corp. was off by 0.8% just ahead of its presentation at the E3 videogame industry conference in Los Angeles, though Nintendo Co. rose 0.9%, and Capcom Co. added 1.5%. Financials were also a soft spot, with Mizuho Financial Group Inc. down 0.9%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. down 1.6%, and Orix Corp. down 1.4%. Shares of shipper Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. dropped 3.2% after a 2% gain in the previous session, while Toshiba Corp. extended its day-earlier losses to fall 1.4% amid continued concern over its accounting problems. Over in the auto sector, Toyota Motor Corp. lost 0.7%, but Honda Motor Co. rose 0.1%, with McClatchy Tribune reporting it was ditching its Civic hybrid and compressed-natural-gas models. Isuzu Motors Ltd. rose 0.3%, adding to previous gains on the back of its truck tie-up with General Motors Co. , while Suzuki Motor Corp. improved by 0.5% after news of its own alliance with Malaysian auto maker Proton. Renesas Electronics Corp. advanced 2.4% amid a Nikkei report highlighting the company's push into components for connected devices. And among the smaller names, pharmacy operator Qol Co. rose 5.5% as another Nikkei report tipped the company to post 30% operating-profit growth during the current fiscal year.