Nikkei slides 6.5 pct as Toyota, Isuzu hammered

Thu Nov 6, 2008 7:56am GMT
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* Nikkei slides 6.5 pct, biggest one-day loss in 2 weeks

* Toyota dives on earnings fear, Isuzu plunges on downgrade

* Global economy fears grow, fed by dismal U.S. data

* Toyota slashes earnings forecast after the close (Adds Toyota, Elpida earnings announcements)

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average slid 6.5 percent on Thursday to its biggest one-day loss in nearly two weeks, with Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) tumbling on earnings fears and other exporters hit by a stronger yen amid jitters over the global economy.

Toyota, whose shares fell over 10 percent on an early report of weaker profits, more than halved its annual operating forecast in a shock announcement after the closing bell that analysts said was sure to weigh on its stock and the overall market. [ID:nL695591]

"I first mistook its revised full-year operating profit forecast as its first-half results," said Takeshi Osawa, senior fund manager at Norinchukin Zenkyoren Asset Management.

"The sense of things having bottomed out may be stripped away." It was a rough day for automakers, with truck maker Isuzu Motors Ltd (7202.T: Quote, Profile, Research) losing a fifth of its value after it cut its earnings outlook and was hit by brokerage downgrades.  Continued...

 
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