TOKYO: Japanese stocks fell as the Bank of Japan refrained from boosting record stimulus and after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold as data showed the world’s biggest economy barely grew last quarter.
Honda Motor Co. tumbled 6.4 percent and Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. slid 6.3 percent after reporting profit that missed analyst estimates. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. slumped 2.4 percent after saying it will pay $2.37 billion to resolve U.S. lawsuits accusing the company of hiding cancer risks from its Actos diabetes medicine. TDK Corp. gained 5.5 percent, the most on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, as its profit forecast beat estimates.
The Topix index lost 1.8 percent to 1,598.77 as of 1:06 p.m. Tokyo, heading for the biggest loss in three months as it reopened after a holiday. All but two of its 33 industry groups fell. Volume on the measure was about 18 percent above its 30-day intraday average. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 2 percent to 19,652.87.
