Tokyo stocks fall Wednesday on eurozone worries

Tokyo stocks fell Wednesday as market sentiment was dampened by rekindled worries about the Eurozone debt crisis, while export-linked shares continued to be hurt by the stronger yen after it shot to a fresh all-time high against the US dollar overnight. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 13.84 points, or 0.16 percent, from Tuesday to 8,748.47 after briefly dipping to 8,642.56, the lowest intraday mark since Oct. 7, in the morning, according to Japan news agency (Kyodo). The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 1.22 points, or 0.16 percent lower to 746.48. Tokyo stocks started sharply lower in the morning as hopes for an early resolution of the European debt crisis receded, following a report that European finance ministers canceled a meeting that had been due to take place ahead of a European Union summit on Wednesday, brokers said. "The talks to tackle the eurozone debt crisis are not progressing," with France and Germany still in conflict over how much of a loss the region''s banks should take on their Greek debt, said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, general manager at SMBC Friend Securities Co. But Tokyo stocks trimmed most of their losses in the afternoon on eased concerns about the Chinese economy after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the Chinese government is ready to adjust its economic policies as needed, stoking expectations that the world''s second largest economy may ease its monetary policy, brokers said. "Wen''s remarks abated worries about the outlook of the Chinese economy, lifting Asian stocks, which in turn gave a boost to the Tokyo stocks," said Toshikazu Horiuchi, equity strategist at Cosmo Securities Co. Export-linked issues remained under pressure throughout the trading session with the U.S. currency trading around the 76 yen line in Tokyo, after it briefly hit an all-time low of 75.73 yen in New York on Tuesday, breaking the previous record of 75.78 yen set last Friday. Among such exporters, Toyota Motor shed 8 yen, or 0.3 percent, to 2,528 yen, Honda Motor fell 13 yen, or 0.6 percent, to 2,329 yen and Kyocera lost 30 yen, or 0.4 percent, to 7,090 yen. Shares linked to the Chinese market rose, with Komatsu gaining 10 yen, or 0.6 percent, to 1,843 yen and Fanuc climbing 350 yen, or 2.9 percent, to 12,510 yen. Hitachi rose 15 yen, or 3.7 percent, to 424 yen after the electrical machinery manufacturer said earlier in the day that it has revised upward its earnings projections for the April-September period. On the First Section, declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones 884 to 587, with 180 others remaining unchanged. Trading volume on the main section edged up to 1,460.96 million shares from Tuesday''s 1,438.68 million