Japanese shares fell today as jittery investors absorbed gloomy earnings and braced for the next report on the U.S. jobs market, The Associated Press reported. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average lost 89.29 points, or 1.1 percent, to 7,949.65. The broader Topix edged down 0.8 percent to 786.41. Trading in Tokyo was sluggish as many investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of Friday's release of the U.S. jobs report for January. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's top automaker, rose 1 percent to 3,040 yen. Honda Motor Co. shed 0.9 percent to 2,170 yen. Japan's No. 2 automaker on Thursday unveiled the cheapest hybrid car on the market, starting at 1.89 million yen ($21,000) in Japan and under $20,000 in the U.S., in a bid to revive demand amid a slump in the global auto market. Sanyo Electric Co., which is being acquired by bigger rival Panasonic Corp., was unchanged at 139 yen. Sanyo said Thursday it sank to a loss for the fiscal third quarter because of declining sales and a strong yen. Sony Corp. was up 1 percent at 1,825 yen. But Japan's No. 1 chipmaker, Toshiba Corp., fell 3.5 percent to 273 yen.
