By Kana Nishizawa and Norie Kuboyama Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks fell after the yen strengthened, commodity prices fell and U.S. jobless claims increased, undermining confidence in the world’s largest market. Panasonic Corp., which gets 23 percent of its overseas sales in Europe, slid 3.1 percent after the yen appreciated against the dollar and the euro amid sovereign debt concerns in Europe. A stronger yen reduces income when overseas revenue is converted into the local currency. Honda Motor Co., an automaker that gets more than 80 percent of sales overseas, declined 3.7 percent. Mitsubishi Corp., a trading company that gets about 40 percent of its sales from metals and energy, sank 3.3 percent. “Anxiety about the future of the U.S. economy and strengthening yen caused concern over Japanese companies’ earnings,” said Hisakazu Amano, who helps oversee the equivalent of about $22 billion at T&D Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. “It’s becoming unclear when the U.S. economy will rebound.” The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 2.9 percent to 10,057.09 at the close in Tokyo. The broader Topix index dropped 2.1 percent to 891.78, with almost 12 times as many stocks declining as rising. All 33 industry groups on the Topix fell. The Topix declined 0.4 percent this year to yesterday, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in the U.S. dropped 4.7 percent and Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index fell 4.4 percent. Companies in the Topix index trade at 31.8 times estimated earnings, compared with 13.8 times for the S&P 500 and 12.1 times for the Stoxx 600. --Editors: Sam Waite. To contact the reporters for this story: Kana Nishizawa in Tokyo at +81-3-3201-8374 or knishizawa5@bloomberg.net; Norie Kuboyama in Tokyo at +81-3-3201-8208 or nkuboyama@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at +852-2977-6646 or dboey@bloomberg.net.

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