Japan Stocks Lower as Abe Set to Dissolve Parliament

Japanese stocks fell as the yen strengthened from a seven-year low versus the dollar and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepares to dissolve parliament today ahead of elections.

Toray Industries Inc. slumped 1.7 percent after a 6.4 percent gain yesterday, dragging a measure of textile makers to the second-biggest decline among 33 industry groups on the Topix. (TPX) Toyota Motor Corp., which gets about 30 percent of its sales from North America, fell 0.6 percent. Takata Corp., a maker airbags linked deaths of motorists, gained 2.8 percent after leveraged short-selling of the stock was suspended.

The Topix slid 0.5 percent to 1,390.54 as of 9:36 a.m. in Tokyo, headed for a 0.7 percent decline this week. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.6 percent to 17,192.24 today. The yen rose 0.2 percent to 118.01 per dollar after slumping to 118.98 yesterday, its weakest level since August 2007.

Bloomberg

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