Japan stocks fall ahead of key US data

TOKYO — Japanese stocks retreated Thursday, as fears about the U.S. economy and the fate of Detroit's struggling automakers reversed early gains.

The Nikkei 225 stock average fell 79.86 points, or 1 percent, to 7,924.24. The broader Topix index lost 1.3 percent to 788.88.

Stocks are expected to remain volatile this week, especially with November U.S. retail sales being released Thursday and Washington's employment report due out Friday. Some analysts forecast the world's largest economy to have shed 350,000 jobs in November.

Markets were also nervous about the outcome of U.S. automakers' return to Congress in hopes of persuading skeptical lawmakers to save their troubled industry with $34 billion in emergency aid.

Sentiment weakened in the afternoon as investors braced for more turbulence ahead, said Katsuhiko Kodama, senior strategist at Toyo Securities in Tokyo. "There are so many reasons to be worried," he said.

Sanyo Electric Co. plunged 12.4 percent to 148 yen following reports that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. rejected Panasonic Corp.'s latest offer of about 130 yen per share for the U.S. investment bank's Sanyo stake.

Exporters fell as the yen strengthened against the dollar. Honda Motor Co. lost 6.2 percent to 1,685 yen, Nissan Motor Co. closed down 6.1 percent at 292 yen, and Nikon Corp. shed 8.2 percent to 878 yen.

Bucking the trend, Nippon Mining Holdings Inc. surged 11.3 percent to 285 yen, and its larger rival Nippon Oil Corp. added 3.4 percent to 331 yen after the two companies agreed to merge.

The new entity will be the world's eighth-largest oil company with combined annual revenue worth 13 trillion yen ($140 billion), rivaling top Japanese companies like Toyota Motor Corp., according to The Nikkei financial daily.

In currencies, the dollar fell to 92.75 yen from 93.18 yen late Wednesday. The euro stood at $1.2656 compared with $1.2705.

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