TOKYO: Tokyo stocks slipped on Wednesday despite a weaker yen and progress in stopping radioactive leaks at a stricken nuclear plant, dealers said, as economic uncertainty weighed on sentiment. The Nikkei 225 fell 20.56 points, or 0.21 percent, to 9,594.99. The Topix index slipped 7.57 points, or 0.89 percent, to 839.59. Despite news that a leak of highly radioactive water into the sea from Tokyo Electric Power's stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant had been stopped, shares in the embattled utility were down 16.29 percent by noon.
TEPCO plunged to its lowest ever close on Tuesday amid concerns it will face mounting compensation bills. Dealers said investors would be keeping an eye on Chinese markets after a rate hike Tuesday, in Beijing's latest effort to curb rampant lending and bring inflation under control. Wall Street offered a weak lead overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 0.05 percent. Traders digested news that the Federal Reserve was edging towards ending years of ultra-loose monetary policy in the face of a building US recovery and looming inflation fears. This coupled with expectations that the Bank of Japan will maintain easy monetary policy this week at it meets to gauge its next step in soothing an economy ravaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The dollar was higher against the yen, with the Japanese unit trading at 85.11 to the greenback from 84.84 yen. The yen was at 121.20 to the euro from 120.66 yen Tuesday. Toyota Motor slipped 0.15 percent to 3,255 after denying a Nikkei report that the automaker plans to restart most of its domestic factories as early as next week. There are lingering worries that production will be halted again when the company runs out of parts, Yukifumi Watanabe, a trader at Himawari Securities, said.
"Until the parts supply problem is resolved, there will be limited buying in the auto sector," Watanabe told Dow Jones Newswires.
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