Japan Stocks Fall; Nikkei 225 Slumps to 7-Week Low on Oil Price

Japanese stocks fell for a fourth day, sending the Nikkei 225 Stock Average to its lowest close in seven weeks. Tokyo Electric Power Co. dropped as the price of crude oil climbed to a record, increasing costs.

Canon Inc. reversed earlier gains after the yen strengthened against the dollar, reducing the value of overseas sales. Orix Corp., Japan's largest non-bank financial company, plunged after saying first-half profit from operations fell 27 percent.

``The gain by oil is working against companies that use it as an input,'' said Takashi Miyazaki, who helps oversee $61 billion at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``There's a short-term risk that the yen will strengthen. Investors are simply not very interested in Japan at the moment, and that makes it hard for stocks to climb.''

The Nikkei 225 slid 152.95, or 0.9 percent, to 16,096.68 at the close of trading in Tokyo, its lowest since Sept. 18. The Topix index fell 17.90, or 1.1 percent, to 1,556.69, extending a three-day 3.7 percent decline.

Companies such as Softbank Corp. and Yamada Denki Co. that reported better-than-estimated profit advanced.

Tokyo Electric, Asia's largest electricity producer, dropped 50 yen, or 1.7 percent, to 2,960. Consumption of crude and fuel oil will be more than double the average this year because of damage to a nuclear reactor caused by an earthquake, the company said last month. Daicel Chemical Industries Ltd., a maker of celluloid and chemicals used in cosmetics, tumbled 40 yen, or 5.3 percent, to 718.
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