Japan Stocks Edge Lower After String Of Gains

Japan stocks appeared to pause Tuesday morning from their run of successive 15-year-highs, with gains for the yen and losses for Wall Street offering investors a reason to take some money off the table. In the early minutes of trade, the Nikkei Average was 0.1% softer, while the broader Topix lost 0.3% -- this after end-of-the-session weakness in New York sent the S&P 500 to close down 0.2%, and after the dollar retreated to �119.75, down from �120.14 late Monday in Tokyo. This put pressure on the blue-chip exporters, with Sony Corp. down 0.5%, Seiko Epson Corp. down 1.6%, Renesas Electronics Corp. down 1.4%, Nissan Motor Co. down 0.9%, and Toyota Motor Corp. inching 0.2% lower. Nintendo Co. fell 2.3% after recent gains on the company's first steps toward offering mobile games -- still, the shares are up more than 40% for the month. On the upside, Sharp Corp. extended its advance, rising 1.6% on hopes that Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. will go ahead with previously stalled plans to invest in the Japanese electronics company. Among the smaller names, Mandom Corp. lost 0.9% as a Nikkei news report said the men's-beauty-product maker would post a full-year profit gain below its previous forecast.