Japanese stocks fall on GDP drop, Wall Street woes

Japanese shares fell sharply Wednesday, following an overnight fall on Wall Street and a report that Japan's economy shrank sharply in the second quarter. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average shed 280.55 points, or 2.11 percent, to 13,023.05. The broader Topix index lost 1.96 percent to 1,246.48. The Dow Jones industrials lost nearly 140 points Tuesday as downbeat news from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other financial companies lifted the market's anxiety about the continuing impact of the credit crisis on the economy. And earlier Wednesday, the Cabinet Office reported that Japan's gross domestic product, or the total value of the nation's goods and services, dropped at an annual pace of 2.4 percent in the April-June period, a marked downturn from a 4.0 percent rise registered in the January-March period. Although the GDP... [read full story]