国际英语新闻：Nikkei down 0.25% as market eyes central bank meeting

TOKYO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks fell Monday with the key Nikkei stock index retreating 0.25 percent in line with currency markets and weighed down by by investors sidelined ahead of the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) possible announcement of further monetary easing.

Despite any further moves by Japan's central bank likely to be minimal, brokers said that trade was likely to be nervous throughout the week, with U.S. jobs data due out later this week also adding to investors' jitters.

"It is difficult to move actively before seeing the outcome of the BOJ's monetary policy, although the market is not expecting to see any big surprises," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.

"Reflecting the mood in the afternoon in which the Nikkei drifted down, it's more likely the market will test the downside after confirming the outcome of the BOJ meeting."

"Nervous trade will likely continue this week, even after tomorrow's event, as U.S. jobs data is also set to be released later in the week," added another Tokyo-based analyst.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 23.17 points from Friday to 9,381.06, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 7.23 points, or 0.87 percent, to 822.74.

Financials declined on the first trading day of the week on renewed concerns about capital requirements.

The Basel Committee said in September that it will require lenders to have common equity equal to at least 4.5 percent of assets, weighted according to their risk.

Banking regulators will introduce an additional capital buffer of 2.5 percent to withstand future stress.

"Renewed concern about stricter capital rules is keeping bank shares down," said Ryuta Otsuka, a strategist in Tokyo at Toyo Securities Co. "That's worsening market sentiment."

Mizuho tumbled 5.9 percent to 112 yen, the lowest since Aug. 2003 and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. lost 2.6 percent to 382 yen. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. meanwhile dropped 2. 9 percent to 2,378 yen.

The yen fell to 83.87 against the U.S. dollar today in Tokyo from 83.35 at the 9 a.m. start of trading, before appreciating to 83.34. Against the euro, the yen depreciated to 115.29 from 114.82.

Japanese manufacturers have set their assumed exchange rate at 89.66 yen for the current fiscal year and a strong yen eats into profits made abroad by Japanese firms when transferred back into the home currency.

In addition Japanese products become less competitive in the international market when the yen is strong versus other major currencies.

This year, the Japanese currency has strengthened about 10 percent against the U.S. dollar, significantly hampering Japan's export-led recovery.

Following the yen's swing's some exporters found favor however, with Sony Corp. adding 1.1 percent to 2,565 yen and Honda Motor Co. edging up 0.5 percent to 3,005 yen.

Fanuc Ltd., a maker of industrial robots advanced 0.9 percent to 10,740 yen.

Omron Corp. climbed 4.3 percent to 1,940 yen, following the maker of electronic components being boosted to "outperform" from "neutral" by Mizuho Securities Co.

Another notable gainer on Monday was Ricoh Co. who gained 2.9 percent to 1,218 yen. The maker of office equipment was raised to "outperform" from "neutral" by Credit Suisse Group.

A notable black spot on the market however was SBI Holdings Inc. The venture-capital and financial-services company plunged 8.8 percent to 9,370 yen, the lowest since March 2009.

SBI said it purchased rights to 6.6 billion yen (79.15 million U.S. dollars) in loans made by failed Japanese consumer lender Takefuji Corp. SBI made the purchase on Sept. 21, according to a release on the company's website.

Takefuji lost 40 percent to 3 yen.

Some 2.03 million shares changed hands on the Tokyo Exchange's First Section, down from 2.09 billion shares on Friday, with decliners outnumbering advancers by 1,262 to 298.