Japanese Markets Tumble; Nikkei Down 250 Points

Japanese stock markets opened lower on Friday. The Nikkei 225 dropped 1.46 percent, or 250.20 points to 16,884.50, and the TOPIX declined 1.70 percent, or 23.2 points to 1,345.24. Japanese markets were closed Thursday for a national holiday.

The Nikkei Japan services PMI climbed to 50.5 in October, compared to 48.2 in September.

Automakers shares tumbled, with Toyota Motor Corp (7203) dropping 4.5 percent, Honda Motor Co (7267) falling 4.1 percent and Nissan Motor Co (7201) sliding 2.9 percent.

The U.S. dollar tumbled to a one-month low against the Japanese yen overnight. The dollar rose 0.15 percent to 103.120 against the yen in Asian trade.

West Texas Intermediate for December delivery rose 0.29 percent to trade at $44.79 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for December settlement gained 0.30 percent to $46.49 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. markets closed lower overnight, with the Dow dropping 0.16 percent to 17,930.67, and the NASDAQ declining 0.92 percent to 5,058.41.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Dream Incubator Inc (4310) climbed around 15 percent to 3,160.0 JPY.
• Renesas Electronics Corp (6723) shares rose around 14 percent to 734.0 JPY.
• JTec Corp (2479) shares increased over 13 percent to 287.0 JPY.

• Daicel Corp (4202) shares dropped around 16 percent to 1,138.0 JPY.
• Altech Co Ltd (9972) shares fell 15 percent to 205.0 JPY.
• Jamco Corp (7408) declined over 12 percent to 1,892.0 JPY.