Japanese Stocks Decline for a Second Day on Europe Debt-Contagion Concerns - Bloomberg

Japanese stocks fell for a second day as concern mounted Europe’s debt crisis may widen, weakening earnings prospects for exporters to the region.

Sony Corp., which sells about 20 percent of its PlayStation game consoles and other products in Europe, retreated 2 percent. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker, lost 1.5 percent. Inpex Corp., Japan’s largest energy exploration company, sank 1.8 percent as oil prices dropped.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.1 percent to 9,960.33 as of 9:06 a.m. in Tokyo. The broader Topix index declined 1.1 percent to 860.61. Both gauges fell the most since June 16.

“It’s looking more and more like the debt crisis in Europe will spread from Greece Ireland and Portugal to bigger countries such as Italy and Spain,” said Yumi Nishimura, an equity-market analyst at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co. “People are worried about the negative impact on financial systems.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Akiko Ikeda in Tokyo