Tokyo stocks decline, dollar higher against yen

TOKYO - Tokyo stocks declined sharply Monday, pushed down by last week's slide on Wall Street. The U.S. dollar was higher against the yen.

The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average shed 370.65 points, or 2.25 percent, to close at 16,130.90 at the end of the afternoon session. On Friday, the average closed up 201.09 points, or 1.23 percent.

The dollar bought 106.30 yen at 3 p.m. (2 a.m. EDT), up 0.94 yen from late Friday and also above its late Friday New York level of 106.21 yen.

On the stock market, selling in Japanese technology issues, including Kyocera and TDK, led the decline, traders said. The Nikkei's drop came despite the release of better-than-expected gross domestic product data just before the market opened.

The Economic Planning Agency said Japan's GDP - the sum of all goods and services produced - grew 1.0 percent in the April-July period, better than the 0.7 percent forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. That followed growth of 2.5 percent in the January-March period.

The data indicated a sign that Japan's fitful economic recovery may be finally gathering strength.

The broader Tokyo Stock Price Index of all issues listed on the first section was down 32.61 points, or 2.16 percent, to 1,477.27. The TOPIX had closed up 23.59 points, or 1.59 percent, on Friday.

In currency dealings, the dollar largely held on its strength against the yen. In other currencies, the euro was traded at 92.24 yen, up from 92.06 yen late Friday in Tokyo.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond stood at 1.8350 percent, down from Friday's finish of 1.8550 percent. Its price rose to 99.70 from Friday's 99.57.

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