TOKYO, Jul. 6, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Tokyo stocks fell for a fourth straight trading day Monday amid a lack of major market cues as the U.S. market was closed Friday for a national holiday.
The benchmark Nikkei-225 index lost 135.20 points, or 1.38 percent, from Friday to 9,680.87.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 8.20 points, or 0.89 percent, to 912. 42.
Sea transport, mining, and oil and coal product issues led the declines. The few gainers were mainly defensive issues such as information and communication, electricity and gas, and pharmaceutical issues.
Brokers said the market lost some steam after topping the 10, 000 line in mid-June, while there is no other major clues to show the economy has picked up at a rapid pace. A widely-anticipated barometer will be the U.S. Institute for Supply Management's non- manufacturing index is due out later Monday.
Sea transport and shipping issues fell as the Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, declined 4.1 percent to 3.520 on Friday. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. fell 4.4 percent to 567 yen. Nippon Yusen K.K. slid 3.4 percent to 396 yen. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (OOTC:KAIKY) dipped 2.6 percent to 369 yen.
Export-oriented issues fell on a weaker dollar, which traded mostly in the lower 95 yen level, down from the upper 95 yen range Friday in Tokyo.
Sony dropped 30 yen, or over 1 percent, to 2,410 yen while Nissan Motor lost over 2 percent.
Among the notable gainers, Askul Corp. climbed 7.7 percent to 1, 702 yen. The office-equipment distributor was raised to "buy" from "neutral" at Nomura Holdings Inc. (NYSE:NMR)
Pasona Group, a temp staffing provider, jumped by its daily limit of 5,000 yen, or 8 percent, to 67,500 yen after revising upward its earnings forecasts for the year ended May 31.
Chuo Kagaku Co. surged 11 percent to 459 yen. The maker of plastic food containers said it will sell 1 billion yen in new shares to Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsubishi Plastics Inc. and JSP Corp. to form a business alliance.
On the First Section, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones 1,043 to 530, with 124 others remaining unchanged.
Battery maker GS Yuasa, the day's value leader, lost 31 yen, or over 3 percent, to 852 yen. Volume leader Mizuho Financial Group (NYSE:MFG) was down 1 yen, or about half a percent, to 227 yen.
Trading volume on the main section shrank to 1,642.31 million shares, down from Friday's 1,870.71 million.
The TSE's Second Section index was down 2.37 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,217.06 on a volume of 66.22 million shares. On the Osaka Securities Exchange, the near-term September Nikkei 225 index futures contract was down 140 points to 9,700.
