Nikkei and Topic sufer losses

The Nikkei 225 was down 1.7 percent at the close of trading on Friday, to stand at 11,371, and the Topic index fell 1.5 percent to 1,151 as the Tokyo markets reacted to bad news on earnings from IBM and Samsung, as well as due to worries about growth rates in the United States and China.

IBM’s announcement that its quarterly earnings were much lower than estimates and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics’ reporting that its first quarter earnings were off by 52 percent took technology stocks lower.

Victor Co. of Japan fell 3.65 percent to ¥845, for its second straight day of losses. Tokyo Electron was down 3 percent to ¥5,880 and Toshiba fell 3 percent as well, to ¥436.

The value of shares in Kanebo, after it’s revelation of years of accounting fraud, fell another 18.3 percent Friday, making its total losses since Wednesday a remarkable 47.2 percent.

In addition, analysts did not have good news for the Tokyo markets to look forward to, with at least one estimate that the Nikkei could fall as much as another 12 percent by year’s end.

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