Tokyo stocks slid for a second-straight day Wednesday, as investors locked in gains from a fresh five-year high hit earlier this week by the main index. The dollar was lower against the yen. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index shed 448.31 points, or 2.7 percent, to finish at 16,272.68 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The broader Topix index, which includes all shares on TSE's first section, declined 42.08 points, or 2.5 percent, to 1,671.39 points.
On Monday, the Nikkei advanced 88.12 points, or 0.53 percent, to finish at 16,747.76 points -- the Nikkei's highest closing since Aug. 31, 2000.
Exporter blue chips led shares lower, including Sony Corp., Nikon Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and steelmaker JFE Holdings Inc. Japanese stocks have been buoyed in the past couple weeks by optimistic economic data, but profit-takers have stepped in during recent sessions to pocket gains in such sectors as pharmaceuticals and insurance.
Tokyo stocks were also undermined by trading in New York, where declining oil prices and weakness in other commodities sent stocks lower overnight with investors cashing in stocks that led Wall Street's early January rally.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 48.51, or 0.45 percent, to 10,749.76 points, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 13.84, or 0.61 percent, to 2,244.96. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar bought 118.02 yen on the Tokyo foreign exchange market at 3 p.m. (0600 GMT) Wednesday, down 0.07 yen from late Tuesday in New York. The euro rose to US$1.1975 from US$1.1973 in New York.
The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond rose to 1.5800 percent, from Tuesday's finish of 1.5700. Its price was unquoted in mid-afternoon trading. The price ended at 100.25 the session before.