Japan Stocks Trend Lower After Long Winning Streak, Even As Yen Drops

Yet more weakness for the yen proved unable to entice Japanese stocks higher early Wednesday, with the Nikkei Average and Topix pulling 0.3% lower each after a string of eight wins, the Tokyo market's longest streak of advances this year. While the dollar extended its recent gains to buy �123.07, trading around its highest level since mid 2007, losses of 1% or more for the main U.S. indexes overnight helped depress some of the top blue chips. Among them, Sony Corp. lost 1.3%, Konica Minolta Inc. fell 2.3%, Seiko Epson Corp. retreated 1%, and among the financials, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. dropped 1.1% and Nomura Holdings Inc. slipped 0.9%, though with the exception of Daiwa, all were sporting gains for the month to date. Despite those losses, the forex action appeared more supportive for the auto makers, even as their diversified production bases make them less susceptible to the yen's influence. Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. rose 0.5%, Honda Motor Co. gained 0.8%, Isuzu Motors Ltd. improved by 1.4% and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. rallied 2.2%. Shares of ANA Holdings Inc. eased 0.1% lower to slightly outperform the market, as a Nikkei report said Airbus, which sells jets to bankrupt budget carrier Skymark Airlines Inc. , may block a plan for ANA to support its smaller rival, with Airbus reportedly seeking the plan as insufficient to shore up Skymark.