Japanese stocks fell the most in a month on the last trading day of the year, as the yen strengthened against the dollar, reducing the outlook for exporters’ earnings. Benchmark indexes ended 2010 with losses. Tokyo Electron Ltd., a maker of semiconductor equipment that derives more than 60 percent of its revenue abroad, lost 1.3 percent. Fanuc Corp., an industrial-robot manufacturer that gets more than 75 percent of its sales overseas, dropped 1.2 percent. Banks, which were the second-best performer in December, had the second-biggest decline among the Topix’s 33 industry groups. “Today’s move represents the full year when the market was driven by the yen,” said Tsutomu Yamada, a market analyst in Tokyo at Kabu.com Securities Co. Investors probably see that “Japan won’t be able to intervene with yen-selling even if the yen strengthens further.” The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.1 percent to 10,228.92 at 3 p.m. in Tokyo, the sharpest slide among Asia’s major benchmark gauges. The broader Topix index dropped 1 percent to 898.8. The declines were the biggest since Nov. 30 for both indexes. For the month, the Nikkei has risen 2.9 percent, while the Topix is up 4.4 percent, extending a rebound that began in November. The Topix declined 1 percent this year, while the Nikkei 225 dropped 3 percent, compared with gains of 13 percent by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 11 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Topix were valued at 15.6 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 14.8 times for the S&P 500 and 12.5 times for the Stoxx 600. The yen appreciated for its ninth straight day to 81.29, compared with 82.26 at the close of stock trading in Tokyo yesterday. It was the strongest intraday level since Nov. 9. Against the euro, Japan’s currency strengthened to 107.61 from 108.02. A stronger yen reduces the value of overseas income at Japanese companies when repatriated. To contact the reporters on this story: Akiko Ikeda in Tokyo at iakiko@bloomberg.net; Satoshi Kawano in Tokyo at skawano1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net.

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