By Myra P. Saefong
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Japanese shares fell to their lowest level in two weeks during early trading Thursday, weighed down by weakness in industrial stocks following a hefty decline on Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei 225 Average traded as low as 10,649.8, its lowest intraday level since Jan. 7, though it later pared losses to trade down 0.6% at 10,672.08. The broader Topix was at 939.58, down 0.5%. Resources suffered from lower commodity prices overnight, as Nippon Light Metal Co. Ltd. (JP:5701 89.00, -1.00, -1.11%) fell 2.3%, Nippon Steel Corp. (JP:5401 367.00, -2.00, -0.54%) (NISTF 4.15, -4.15, -50.00%) dropped 2.5% and Kobe Steel Ltd. (JP:5406 176.00, -3.00, -1.68%) (KBSTF 1.85, -0.06, -3.14%) lost 3.4%. Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi declined 0.8% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.7% lower.
