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TOKYO >> Tokyo stocks fell yesterday, ending a three-day rally amid concerns about terrorism and a possible spike in oil prices following the suspected al-Qaida attack on foreigners working in Saudi Arabia's oil industry. The dollar was lower against the Japanese yen.
The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 stocks closed down 73.20 points, or 0.65 percent, at 11,236.37. On Friday, the index gained 143.54 points, or 1.29 percent.
The benchmark Nikkei was weighed down in early trading by the weekend rampage by gunmen that killed 22 people, including several foreigners, in the Saudi city of Khobar -- the second such attack in less than a month.
"The market's concern is that U.S. shares will be hurt by oil price concerns after the Saudi incident," said Okasan Securities senior strategist Tetsuya Ishijima. Perceptions of instability in the Middle East could send crude oil prices even higher, hurting Wall Street, and the Tokyo market closely tracks New York.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei fell nearly 1.5 percent before paring some of its losses.
Technology and exporter blue chips Sony, Toshiba and Kyocera traded lower. Major bank shares UFJ and Mizuho fell on bad corporate news, dragging Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial lower.
UFJ was hit by a newspaper report yesterday that Japan's financial regulator had ordered the bank to use more stringent rules to assess its bad loans, traders said.
Sumitomo Mitsui was under pressure after a weekend media report that the bank had forced a construction company to repay billions of yen in loans just before the company went bankrupt, they said.
The broader index of all issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section lost 2.44 points, or 0.21 percent, to end at 1,139.94 points yesterday. The TOPIX rose 15.74 points, or 1.40 percent, on Friday.
Volume on the first section was estimated at 1.116 billion shares, down from 1.388 billion shares Friday. Decliners edged advancers 783 to 636, while 136 issues ended unchanged from Friday.
Saudi officials sought to reassure foreign oil executives -- and prevent a rise in crude oil prices -- after the attack on two compounds housing offices and homes of expatriates working in the country's most important industry.
In New York Friday, a strong consumer spending and earnings report wasn't enough to inspire traders to do much ahead of the three-day Memorial Day weekend. But the major indexes posted gains for the week.
Traders in New York return today from the holiday-extended weekend.
The yield on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond climbed to 1.5250 percent from 1.5050 percent late Friday. Its price fell 0.17 to 99.78 points.
Tokyo Stock Exchange:
www.tse.or.jp
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