Japan Stocks Sink On Rising Yen, Greek Jitters

Japanese stocks opened down and moved lower in early Tuesday trading, with the Nikkei Stock Average down 0.5% to cancel out an advance by the same margin the previous day, while the broader Topix lost 0.3%. A breakdown in talks for a new Greek rescue package and a slightly firmer yen (with the dollar buying �118.37 vs. �118.59 at the Monday Tokyo stock close) helped weigh on the forex-sensitive blue chips, including Toyota Motor Corp. , Hitachi Ltd. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (all down 1% each), Sony Corp. (down 0.5%), and Toshiba Corp. (down 0.6%). On the other hand, Panasonic Corp. added 1%, Nissan Motor Co. rose 1.2%, and Sharp Corp. improved by 0.8%. Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd. tacked on 1% to its share price after posting a 20% increase in annual sales, with the Nikkei reporting that the result had propelled it above top rival Kirin Holdings Co. to become the biggest food-and-beverage company in Japan. Shares of Kirin were down 0.3%.