TOKYO – Tokyo shares fell 0.94 percent Monday morning, dragged down by sell-offs of nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power and other utilities, and on weak US jobs data last week, brokers said.
The benchmark Nikkei index lost 89.15 points to 9,403.06 by the lunch break. The Topix index of all first-section issues sank 0.81 percent or 6.58 points to 809.99.
Heavy selling hit shares in Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, on a media report that TEPCO would incur a $7 billion loss in the business year to March 2012.
The selling also followed comments by Tokyo Stock Exchange president Atsushi Saito in an interview with an online magazine of the Asahi Shimbun that TEPCO should file for bankruptcy protection.
“While there had been some expectations for shareholder protection, these comments suggest the shareholders will be hit hard,” Toshikazu Horiuchi, an equity strategist at Cosmo Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
TEPCO shares fell to 206 yen in mid-morning trade, down 80 yen or 28.0 percent from Friday, the maximum loss allowed for one trading day. They then slightly recovered to end the morning at 218 yen, down 68 yen or 23.77 percent.
Other utilities were also down, with Chubu Electric plunging 7.41 percent to 1,148 yen.
US stocks dropped Friday after the Labor Department reported that the economy added a paltry 54,000 jobs in May.
In closing trades the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 97.29 points (0.79 percent) at 12,151.26.
“Investors want to further assess whether the weak data was a result of lingering impact from disruptions to Japan’s supply chain (due to the March 11 quake disaster) or a reflection of the slowdown in the overall US economy,” said Yumi Nishimura, a senior market analyst at Daiwa Securities.
Nintendo was down 1.15 percent at 18,000 yen, slightly underperforming the broader market after it said a website operated by a US subsidiary had been hacked, although no personal information had been stolen.