Tokyo stocks down at break, Takata dives on bankruptcy fears

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks slipped Thursday morning with troubled airbag supplier Takata diving by more than half as it appeared to be headed for bankruptcy court.

The market slumped into negative territory after the yen firmed against the dollar, which is bad for the profitability of Japan's exporters and hits demand for their shares.

In Tokyo trading, the dollar was at 110.98 yen, weakening from 111.11 yen earlier Thursday and 111.37 yen in New York.

Global markets mostly tumbled on Wednesday, with petroleum equities among the worst hit as crude dropped on worries about excess supply and ineffectual OPEC policy.

"With lack of (other) market movers, there is a tug-of-war between falls in crude prices as a negative factor and resilient expectations for demand for high tech (US shares) as a positive factor," Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings told Bloomberg News.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.10 percent, or 20.54 points, to sit at 20,118.25 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section issues edged down 0.03 percent, or 0.42 points, to 1,611.14.

Oil-linked shares were down, with oil developer Inpex falling 1.73 percent to 1,020 yen and refiner JXTG Holdings slipping 0.60 percent to 475.2 yen by the break.

Takata shares meanwhile plummeted by more than 50 percent to 114 yen at one point on fears the troubled airbag maker is headed for bankruptcy and plans to sell its assets to a US company.

Takata ended the morning down 51.63 percent at 118 yen.

Toshiba edged 0.09 percent lower to 322.7 yen, a day after the troubled conglomerate said it will hold exclusive talks with a consortium of US, South Korean and state-backed Japanese investors to sell its prized memory chip business.

The sale is seen as a key for the cash-strapped firm's turnaround.

Copier maker Canon fell 0.51 percent to 3,875 yen while Panasonic was down 0.36 percent at 1,513.5 yen.